Road Trip
by nickelplated
Summary: Violet talks Klaus into a cross-country road trip to follow up on a vague lead left by an old VFD contact. Along the way the two hash out old misunderstandings, learning through their own journey that sometimes the road may not have gone where they intended it to go, but the two end up exactly where they need to be. Violet/Klaus
1. Prologue

Prologue

Violet dialed the phone number she had memorized, but rarely used, dreading that he would answer, excited at the prospect of hearing his voice, scared of the very real possibility of rejection. He picked up on the second ring. Of course he did.

"Violet?" he answered, knowing it was her already.

"Hi, Stranger," she greeted, her heart beating so fast, she could feel it pumping hard in her chest. "Yeah, it's me. How are you?"

"I'm good. Work has been good. Keeping me busy, you know?" His voice sounded so far away. Too far away.

"Yeah."

"How's Sunny?" he asked.

"She's good. She's looking forward to coming to see you next month. Sounds like she has the whole week figured out, day by day. You'll have to take her around." Violet switched the phone to her other ear.

"Of course. We've been planning it all out. She wishes you would come, too," he paused. "So do I."

"Listen, Klaus," she started nervously. "I've called to tell you some bad news."

"Oh?"

"Jerome Squalor has passed away. Cancer," she said by way of explanation.

"Well, I guess I'm sorry to hear that," he said flatly, not sounding very sorry.

"His lawyer has requested that we come to the funeral. Jerome has left something for us in his will, but we have to come in person. I…I think I would like to see what it is," she had to put it out there, already knowing what his response would be.

"Violet," he said, exasperated already with this conversation. "He doesn't have anything you need. It's just fucking VFD sending us on another wild goose chase. Don't fall for it. Please?"

"But what if it's…" she began, but he interrupted.

"It's not. He already told us he didn't have any answers for us, Vi."

"Something might have changed. It's been a long time since we last saw him, and he had a lot of pressure from both sides of the schism back then," she reasoned. There was a long silence as she figured what she could say to convince him.

"The funeral is out in Seattle."

"Oh my God, that's just another reason not to go. A plane ticket to Washington probably costs a thousand dollars. Why the hell is he way out there, anyway?"

"Treatment center, I think. Anyway, I was thinking we could drive there. I could pick you up, meet you at the last train stop in Virginia where we usually trade Sunny, and... maybe we could have a road trip," she said hopefully. "We can take the weekend to get there. Do you have any time off?" More silence.

"Are you taking Sunny out of school?" he asked, feeling her out.

"I wasn't planning on it. It's a closed weekend, anyway. They're having some special grandparent's event that the school is hosting. Of course I'll let them know we're out of town in case they need to reach us for an emergency." Sunny went to a boarding school, only a few towns over from Violet's house. Violet hated sending her there at first, but Klaus was adamant that she get a good education. It turned out to be nothing like the boarding school she had experienced. Sunny was thriving and involved heavily in her studies and extracurriculars. Violet still ached for her, though, and eagerly looked forward to every one of her home leave weekends, where they usually cuddled together on the couch and gossiped all about Sunny's friends and teachers. Sunny had lived up to her name. She was pure sunshine and a joy to have around.

"So…just us? Do you think that's a good idea, Vi?" he asked, like she hadn't already thought all about it. Like she needed to be reminded? And just that simple question had her throat closing up in an ache, an all too familiar burn, and she had to take a minute to breathe, to get back to normal, before she could answer, which was really the answer in itself, wasn't it?

"I want to see you, Klaus. I miss you so much," and there it was. Her whole life boiled down into five words, because all she did was miss him, every minute of every day. "I…I didn't know when we decided to take some time apart that it would mean forever."

"Violet," he sighed. "It kinda has to be."

"If you come with me to Seattle, I'll come with Sunny to visit you in DC next month," she pulled out her only bargaining chip, because Klaus really did want all three of them together to visit the exhibit he had been working on at the library, and had not been above using Sunny to beg their big sister to come along every chance she could get.

"Really?"

"Yeah. So…time off? When should I pick you up?"

Klaus let out a long groan. "Please, please, please, do not get your hopes up about Jerome's will. I promise you, it will turn out to be nothing. When has it ever been something useful? Hmmm?"

"Never."

"That's absolutely right. Never! Don't forget it and don't say I didn't warn you"

"So what day? Can I come Friday morning or will you need to work?" Violet was grinning now, knowing she had won.

"Yeah, okay," he resigned. "I can be at the station by 10 am. Is that too early?"

"No of course not. I always wake up early, anyway." She would be well on the road by 6 to get there in time. "Great," Violet was pacing on her end of the conversation, and had walked all the way into the bathroom to check her expression in the mirror, to make sure of what she was really feeling. She would see Klaus in less than two days. Her reflection showed relief, some worry, and a huge smile. "I…I can't wait to see you little brother."

He chuckled, "Yeah. It will be really good to see you. What, has it been something like five months, I think?" It had been a really long time. They only saw each other these days whenever they were visiting Sunny at school at the same time for an event, or if he was picking their little sister up or dropping her off at Violet's, maybe sometimes a meal out. "Okay, bring some snacks. It's not a proper road trip without music and snacks."

"Okay," she was nodding, even though he couldn't see her. "Okay. I'll see you Friday at 10. Text me if anything changes."

"Will do. Okay…", and she could hear the smile in his voice, "goodbye, Violet."

"Bye." Violet squealed as soon as she hung up. She would see her brother and maybe, hopefully, find out more about the mystery surrounding her parents. Klaus would keep her grounded on that count. He had become very jaded on any subject involving VFD, and rightly so, but her curiosity didn't abate with time or disappointment.

Now there were preparations to be made. Laundry for packing, food to buy, and she needed to call the school to let them know of her trip. What would Sunny say now that she had agreed to the DC trip? It would be fun to see Sunny and Klaus together. They had always been thick as thieves. There was a time when they had all been thick as thieves, but those were not good days, not really, nor good memories, though she desperately missed it anyway. Maybe she only missed what might have been.


	2. Raleigh to Chicago

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go.

But no matter, the road is life." Jack Kerouac

**Raleigh to Chicago**

Violet arrived at the station early, parking in the lot so she had a good view of the arrivals from DC. He'd said he would be there at 10, but she glimpsed him stepping off the train at 9:45. She turned off the car and stepped out into the warm, early autumn day to greet him. She walked briskly towards him, anxious now to hold him, to smell him, to see how he had changed. When she thought of Klaus, he almost always remained 18 years old in her memory, but here he was, not taller than she remembered, but broader, more manly, though he still remained thin. He still had the same sense of style, wearing nice jeans with a button down shirt, the cuffs rolled up to his elbows. His hair was neatly trimmed around his neck, but with a mop of curls on top of his head, which she loved, reminding her still of the boy she had grown up with. The biggest change that she noticed right away was the short scruff he had let grow on his face.

"You grew a beard? It suits you," Violet said amiably when she reached him. He dropped his bag on the ground next to him and took her in his arms, embracing her in a bear hug, and she couldn't have asked for more. It was right where she had wanted to be.

Klaus held her out at arm's length and gave her a looking over. "Hello, Violet. You look good," he answered her with a smile. Her hair had grown long and she left it down, because that's how he liked it best. She had on a pair of jeans and a tank and wore a comfortable flannel over top. She had probably gained a little weight since he saw her last, but Violet had never been one to worry over her body image.

"Is this all you've brought?" she asked, gesturing to his duffel bag. "Where are all the books? I figured there would be a whole suitcase for books alone just to read in the car?" she teased. "What are you reading now, anyhow?" she asked. Might as well dispense with insignificant small talk and get to the conversations, and Klaus loved to talk about books. It would set him at ease quicker than anything else. She lifted his bag for him from the ground and headed towards the car, plopping it down in the backseat, where he could reach it easily.

"Well, the library is doing that new exhibit on the literature that influenced Thomas Jefferson's life. We have his personal books on loan to us from his Monticello Estate. I would love to visit there, sometime. I hear the gardens are magnificent, Violet. Anyway, I've been reading through his collection and grouping them into categories, and goodness, seeing a personal annotation in one of his books is just…wow." Klaus eased himself into the front seat of Violet's little crossover and buckled himself in. "It's a real privilege to be able to handle those books, but of course, I can't bring them on a road trip with me."

"That's really cool…Okay, lets's discuss our route real quick before we get started" Violet said, pulling out her phone. "There are three ways we can go. We can drive through Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, or we can go Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, or, and I'm leaning towards this one, because why else would we ever drive through these states otherwise, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana."

"Ooh, can we go the South Dakota way? Can we stop at Mount Rushmore?" he asked hopefully.

"Sure, if you want to. I've never been to those states, so I can still mark them off my bucket list," Violet agreed easily, picking the route from her phone and setting it in the dashboard holder. "At any rate, our first leg of the journey should get us to the Chicago area."

"Oh, this will be harder than I thought. There's so much to see. Will we have time for any sightseeing? What time do we have to be in Seattle, by the way?"

"Well, if we don't run into any problems, and drive about twelve hours per day, we could have a whole day left for sightseeing. Our meeting with Jerome's lawyer is Tuesday," Violet answered, glad to see Klaus was excited about the trip. It would be nice to make some good memories together. She felt a short pang of regret that they hadn't been able to bring Sunny along. She would enjoy sightseeing, too. "Why don't you make a tentative schedule while we're driving? It'll be good to know where we should stop for breaks depending on what we want to see, right?"

Violet turned on the radio, pulled out of the station and onto the highway. She couldn't believe they were going to have so much unadulterated time together, maybe a week straight, and he hadn't even brought a single book. Violet felt so happy she knew she was smiling like a maniac. She glanced sideways at him as she put on her blinker to change lanes. He was smiling back at her.

"What?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. What are you smiling about?"

She reached across the console to grab his hand off of his leg, bringing it to her lips to kiss it. "I am so happy to see you. I don't think you could wipe the smile off of my face right now."

His own smile faltered a little, a crease appearing between his eyebrows. "Violet," he began, a warning in his tone, but she cut him off.

"Don't worry," she said, squeezing his hand. "We'll be okay." She could feel him staring at her, but she dared not look back right now, afraid of what she might see in his expression, but then he squeezed her hand in return. She expected him to take his hand from hers, to play it safe, but instead he interlaced their fingers and rested their hands on her thigh.

"So…all the way to Chicago today? We won't get there until late, but maybe in the morning we could stop at Millennial Park. Should we stay downtown?" Klaus asked. Money was not too much of an issue for the Baudelaire siblings. When Violet had finally, jumping through hoops to do it, gotten their inheritance, she had immediately split the money three ways and assigned each an annuity. This gave them each a paycheck of sorts every month to do with as they wished, even Sunny. Violet did not want to risk something happening to her and Sunny not being able to get to their inheritance. Sunny's money mostly went into a savings account, but she used some of hers to help pay her high tuition and any traveling that she wanted, or any personal shopping that she did, although Violet bought her stuff all the time. Klaus also had a job in Washington DC, because brains like his needed to be used and he enjoyed keeping busy. Violet didn't work and hadn't really finished school, but spent a lot of her time gardening. She had become quite a horticulturist and made use of her talent volunteering in community gardening projects around her city and at schools. She was the mother figure in their threesome and had made Klaus's and Sunny's education top priority.

"Isn't there some old hotel there, close to that park? Call and see if we can make reservations," Violet suggested.

He typed on his phone for a few minutes before announcing, "The Palmer House Hilton? It's only a few blocks from the park, but still a good walk to the pier. We may run out of time if we try to do everything." He made quick reservations without difficulty and it felt good to have a particular destination in mind.

They stopped for fast food around 2 pm, just after passing through Pittsburg and switched drivers. "Don't judge my driving, Violet," Klaus admonished as she hung onto the door handle for dear life when he practically swerved onto the highway. "You know I take the train everywhere in the city, so I don't get to practice."

"It's fine. Just…you don't have to go too fast until you get used to it again. I'm sure you'll have lots of practice before this trip is over. Klaus! Watch out…don't get too close to that semi!" she called, not letting go of the handle. She would have to be on her toes for a little while, keeping an eye on him as he got used to her car. She had a flashback to when she had taught him how to drive. She'd let him practice on her old Toyota after his driver's ed course. He'd drive around and around the city's bypass, trying to learn how to stay in his own lane and to control his speed. He evidently hadn't improved much since those days, and she suddenly feared for Sunny and all the times he had driven her since.

The car remained mostly silent except for the radio and Violet's occasional driving instructions, which he repeated several times that he didn't need, over the next hour or so, until they were able to leave most of the city traffic behind them.

"So," Violet was going to ask the question she dreaded most, but had to know. "Are you seeing anyone?"

He kept his eyes straight ahead on the road, but his hands gripped the steering wheel noticeably harder. "No."

"Oh."

"I was."

"What happened?" God, she shouldn't be asking. She definitely did not want to know, did not want to hear about the girls in his life, although she heard much through Sunny.

"She broke up with me."

"Well, that was silly of her. Why on earth would she do that?"

"She said I couldn't give her what she needed." He never looked away from the road. She shouldn't ask. No, she definitely did not want to know the answer.

She asked. "What did she want from you, Klaus?"

"She wanted me to love her, but I couldn't. I couldn't even say it. She accused me of loving someone else and… and I suspect she was right." He said it simply, but everything about his words were so complicated. It brought sudden images to the forefront of her mind, not that they were ever buried very deep, images of whispered words in the dark, the feel of Klaus's naked torso moving against hers, interlacing fingers just as they were briefly this morning. 'I love you' confessed over and over again into her shoulder. Those memories always stole her breath away. They were sudden and quick and left her feeling so bereft.

When she felt she could talk again, after a long pause to let the familiar ache in her throat fade, she asked, "Why didn't you just tell her you loved her, Klaus? Would it have been so bad to tell one little lie, and then maybe, you would have loved her eventually? You could have been happy?"

He only shrugged. "I don't regret it, Violet," and she wasn't sure if he meant breaking up with his girlfriend or loving Violet instead, and then he was holding her hand again, bringing it to his lips this time, and again with the memories. Little flashbacks of those soft, full lips against other body parts, never hesitant, always desperate. She had to look away, had to stare out of the window for a good long time, because time heals all wounds, right? Except, in their case, it didn't seem to be working out that way.

Violet must have fallen asleep with her head against the window, because the next thing she knew, Klaus was squeezing her hand, saying her name gently. "Hey Violet, wake up. We had to stop for gas. Do you need to use the restroom?" She looked around blearily, pressing her palms into her eyes to help them focus. Klaus was getting out of the driver's seat to pump the gas. They were at a busy station, and her phone read 5:45 pm.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, she had to exit the car slowly, her body stiff from sitting all day. She stretched and Klaus looked over his shoulder at her while sliding his card at the pump.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Just got through Cincinnati."

"You drove through the city all by yourself?" she asked incredulously.

"In case you haven't noticed, I am a grown man with a valid driver's license. I am perfectly capable of driving us safely through the city," he answered defensively but still teasing. Violet scoffed. "We're still alive aren't we?" he said to that. "Besides, you snored through it like a grown man yourself, so what do you care?"

"No need for petty insults. I do not snore." It was Klaus's turn to scoff. "I'm heading in to pee," she announced. "Should we get a snack?"

It was good to stretch their legs for a few minutes, but they were already scheduled to get to the hotel late, so they ate their gas station hotdogs and coffees on the road. It was Violet's turn to drive and she imagined that Klaus would nap as she had, but after his food, he angled his back against the car door to look at her while he chatted about work. He held both hands around his styrofoam coffee cup, nursing it, taking small sips, but it was strong and all the creamer in the world couldn't cut down on the bitterness of it.

Klaus was always happy and animated when he got to talk about books. It was really good to hear that he enjoyed his work and was successful in DC. He was one of the youngest librarians employed there. He pretty much had a photographic memory and Violet had wondered at times if it wasn't as much curse as blessing, because although he could easily recall various information instantly, he also could never forget many of the things he had lived through.

As a result, his dreams and, unfortunately, his nightmares were very vivid. Even after waking from them it would take him some time to differentiate between dream and reality. How many times had she had to hold him after a bad dream, rock him and rub his head, telling him over and over that it wasn't real? He'd had those nightmares all the way up until he had left her for school, when he was 18, and she wondered if he suffered as regularly from them now as he did then. Who helped him through the night, now?

The first time he had kissed her, he was only 16 then, he had awoken from another horrible dream, screaming for her. "Violet! Violet! No, no, no." They had shared a bed then, but when hadn't they?

She'd sat up, cradling his face, saying, "I'm here, Klaus. It was just a dream. It's okay," shushing him like a small child.

"No, Violet. He had you." Violet had known who 'he' was. "He had you and he was hurting you, and.. oh my God. No, he can't have you like that." Klaus was so distressed, he was holding her upper arms in a vice grip. "He can't have you," he repeated, quieter, but so fierce. "You're mine, you're mine."

"Of course, Klaus," Violet soothed him. "I'm yours. It's okay, he's dead. He can't hurt us anymore." She kissed his forehead and his cheeks. She had wished at the time, and every time, that he could have had a normal childhood, growing up with a mother and a father, instead of her as a poor substitute.

"You're mine," he stated again, pressing his forehead to hers. He was already taller than her by that time. She had long been done growing, while he was just getting his growth spurt. "Say it again." Even though he was on the cusp of becoming a man, he had looked so scared, holding her like she might vanish.

"I'm yours, Klaus." She never could remember exactly why she had stated it like that, but she did remember how he had sighed in relief, how he had looked at her as he had pressed his lips, hesitatingly that first time, so tenderly to hers. She hadn't known if he was still partly dreaming, but was eager to comfort him, relieved to have wiped that awful fear from his face. She had let him kiss her, had even returned his ardor when his mouth slanted across hers, becoming desperate, his hands still holding her arms and pulling her closer, and she, running her own hands through his soft, bedhead hair, had told herself at the time that she did it only to comfort him, but truthfully, she had felt so comforted herself. Klaus wouldn't let anyone else hurt her, had never even let Count Olaf hurt her if he could help it. There was no one that she trusted more than Klaus, even with her heart. Klaus was the safest place to be, and if he wanted to surround her with his arms and his kisses, then that's what she had wanted, too.

That was, until the morning after, each apologizing to the other for taking it too far. Kissing between siblings was wrong. Guilt and incest were two words that weighed heavily on their minds that day. Klaus had confessed to feeling as lecherous as 'him', and each one had felt they had taken advantage of the other. At any rate they promised to put it in the past and of course, never cross that line again. God, how many times had they crossed it?

Their attraction for each other had become an addiction. Every time, they would hold out as long as they could, knowing it was wrong, knowing they shouldn't, until the craving became too much and they had to give in. They were just kids playing grown-up. Kids who needed attention and comfort and most of all love. They were all each other had in the whole world. Knowing this never assuaged their guilt, never made them comfortable with what they did. They grew up loving each other so much and hating that they did, hated the way loving each other made them feel so ashamed.

Now Violet could look back and see how all of that inner turmoil was such a waste of time. All of this time away from Klaus, trying to control their feelings for each other, had been a waste. What was the point of life if there was never any happiness, and there would never be happiness for her as long as Klaus wasn't part of her life.

The long afternoon had finally turned into darkness, and the pattern of the oncoming traffic's headlights were lulling to Violet. Klaus must have finally dozed off during her daydreaming, because he jerked awake when his phone rang. He fumbled with it for a couple of rings before he could accept the call.

"Hey Sunshine!" he greeted their little sister. "How was grandparent's day? I heard you had a closed weekend so you could help host." He was quiet while he listened to Sunny on the other end of the call. "You got to sing the solo? Wow!… Well, what's on for tomorrow then?" More silence. "That sounds fun. Hey, guess who I'm here with?…Yeah, Violet. Yeah." Violet had informed the school that she and Klaus would be traveling. When she had told Sunny, there had been a series of squeals on the other end of the line. "Don't be too jealous, okay, but we're dong a road trip across the country…oh, it's to have a meeting with a lawyer in Washington. Your sister thought it would be fun to drive for three days straight to get there." Violet could hear Sunny's little bell peal laughter through the phone all the way from the driver's seat. "Yeah, so far, so good. We'll text you pictures along the way. Today was mostly just getting off the East Coast…Chicago…Yeah, okay. I'll tell her. Are you behaving?…Always, huh?…I know, I'm just teasing you…I love you, too…" Then Klaus was listening for a long moment, seriousness replacing his lighthearted banter, until he sort of turned away from Violet and said more quietly, as if he was sorry that Violet could hear, "Sunny, you don't know what you're talking about…" Violet could hear Sunny raise her voice on the other end, but couldn't make out what she was saying. "Don't be silly…Fine, I'm listening, yes. Okay, I know. All right…okay. I love you, too. Call us again as soon as you can. All right, Bye." He pressed the End Call button on his phone.

"Well, that sounded…a little suspicious," Violet said, brimming with curiosity.

"Sunny's as stubborn as you are," he accused.

"She's as stubborn as you!" she replied.

"She gets it honestly." He didn't say anything about the call.

"Well, what did she say?"

"She got to sing the solo with the choir today for the grandparent event. Tomorrow, she is working in the cafeteria to help serve all the extra people lunch, but then in the afternoon a group of them are all going hiking."

"And then you let her fuss at you?" Violet asked.

"She can be quite opinionated about our relationship," he gestured between Violet and himself. "I think she knows."

"I didn't tell her." No one had to tell her. It was written all over their faces for anyone who bothered to read between the lines.

"She's pretty smart. She told me not to… not to run away, not to make you cry."

Violet tried to smile bravely. "She is a silly thing. I don't know why she would say that."

"Did I make you cry, Violet?" Again with so much shame. He was feeling it right now, she could tell, and it broke her heart. She wished Klaus could just live his life, without having to feel so much angst. She never wanted him to know how much their separation had cost her, but goddamn it, a traitorous tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly.

"Of course not. We did what we had to do, right? I've missed you, though. Our little meetings to shuttle Sunny around aren't enough for me. This trip, being with you right here in the car with me, well, it's pretty great. Thank you for coming with me."

"I am sorry for hurting you. Leaving is never the easy decision for me. Every fiber in my being wants to stay with you, you have to know that," he said so sincerely, and she just couldn't hear it right now or she would cry, because _she_ wanted him to stay with every fiber of _her_ being and yet they tortured themselves.

"Don't."

"But we have Sunny to think about," he continued anyway, "and I don't want there to be any reasons that she is taken away from us. I couldn't bear it," he tried to explain.

"I know. I get it. We don't have to talk about it," she cut the conversation off as they pulled off at the exit, finally almost to their hotel. Violet was dead tired. She had woken up to get an early start this morning, and had actually driven an extra four hours more just to meet Klaus at the train station. It was no wonder she felt like crying. She just had to hold it together a little while longer, just had to make it to her room.

Another twenty minutes had them pulling up to valet parking and unloading their bags from the backseat. Klaus headed for the registration desk to get their keys. They had made pretty good time, had hardly stopped at all, but it was still just after 11 pm. Violet passed through the lobby, bleary-eyed and tired, unable to enjoy the beauty of the historic Chicago hotel. They entered a huge room full of elevators that face in every direction depending on where in the hotel you were staying. It took Klaus only a few seconds to figure out which set of elevators was theirs and he pressed the button for the 8th floor. He handed her a key card and pointed out the room number. "My room should be right next door, if you need me." They walked down two long hallways to get to her room and sure enough, his was the next room down. "Just let me put my bag down and I'll help you get into your room." He dropped his duffel by his own door, but she was already putting the magnetic key card to the lock. She opened the door and threw her bag inside, then stood leaning in the doorway, propping the door open with her hip. She didn't let him into the room.

"So, we need to get a fairly early start tomorrow, okay?" she reminded and he nodded. He moved closer to her, plainly wanting to hug her, and she stepped out of the doorway to let him. He held her for so long, bending down a little to curl his tall frame around her, to press his cheek against hers, before she pulled back. "Can I touch your beard?"

He laughed. "Of course." His beard was just a short scruffy thing, the sexy kind that made him look like he had a permanent five o'clock shadow. She put a hand to each of his cheeks and the hairs felt softer than she had imagined if you brushed it one way, and quite prickly if brushed it the other. She scratched her fingertips through the short hairs and he closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the feel of her hands. "It gets itchy, actually, so that feels pretty good." She couldn't help herself, she pushed her hands behind his head to feel his soft curls, imagining a thousand other times she had done so, either to comfort him or to hold him closer while his mouth roamed her body. She pulled his face close and he let her, giving him one chaste kiss on the lips, though her own lips trembled with the effort of controlling her tears. "Violet." He said her name with such longing. He pulled her hands down and held them. "You're sorely testing my self control."

"Wouldn't it be nice to kiss like real people?" she laughed, a short mirthless sound that almost turned into a sob. "Goodnight, Klaus," and she turned from him to unlock her door again. He was still standing there, watching her, concerned, when she went to close the door. "See you bright and early." Then there was that blessed barrier between her and the object of all of her desires. She let the tears come finally as she undressed for bed. How silly they were, but they had good reasons for their misery. Of course they needed to protect Sunny, protect each other from themselves, as always, so that there was at least a chance at a normal life. Violet fell into bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	3. Chicago to Somewhere in South Dakota

"…it's a long journey but it leads to freedom" Corinne Hofmann

**Chicago to Somewhere in South Dakota**

Violet was an early riser by habit. Up by 5:30 am, showered and repacked by 6:15, itching to leave this beautiful hotel that they wouldn't have proper time to enjoy and craving a good cup of coffee. She left her room with her purse and her key and headed to the elevator. Halfway there she thought better of if and turned back to knock on Klaus's door.

She put her ear to the door and heard a muffled, "Coming." She felt bad when he opened the door, evidently having woken him. He was still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, squinting against the bright lights in the hallway that never dimmed. His hair was sticking up everywhere, which meant he must have showered last night and slept on it wet. Klaus was bare chested, and her eyes were drawn to the hair on his chest which thinned to a single line that ran right past his belly button and disappeared down into his sweatpants. "Hey," he greeted. "What time is it?"

"It's still pretty early, but we can't sleep too long. I just wanted to let you know I was going to head to the coffee shop on the Wabash exit of the hotel to get some breakfast. It's called Corner Bakery or Corner Coffee, or something with corner in it. You can meet me there when you're ready, and after breakfast we can go to the park."

"All right," he said, running his hands through his hair, trying to make it lay down.

"You look adorable, Klaus," she reassured him with a grin.

He groaned. "Just what every man wants to hear." He started to close the door and she turned to walk back towards the elevators. "You look pretty adorable, too, by the way," he called after her. She didn't bother looking back, just waved her hand in the air in a dismissive gesture.

Yes, coffees were much better at corner bakeries than gas stations. Violet also had a pastry and a large bowl of overnight oats, which were new to her but tasted quite good. Klaus came in the door of the fairly bustling cafe and she waved when his eyes landed on her. He had showered again, presumably to get his hair to lay down, because it was still mostly wet and curling. He had worn more casual clothes today, jeans still, but with a tee shirt that read 'That's What I Do, I Read Books, And I Know Things' that Sunny had gotten him for Christmas two years ago. It made him look younger and a bit more carefree than usual, and although he looked good in his tee shirt, Violet suspected that it would cause her no amount of psychological issues today, because it reminded her of everything that happened during that Christmas two years ago.

Klaus stopped by her table on the way to the front register. "Hey, how's the coffee? Do you need a refill?"

"I got a latte and it's pretty tasty. Can you order me another one?" she requested, trying to stop staring at his shirt, but failing.

"Sure," he looked down at his front to see what she was staring at. "Oh, do you like my shirt? Sunny got it for me."

"Yeah, I know." She tried to shake herself out of it. He hadn't been wearing the shirt when it happened. It was not the shirt's fault. Geez, it only reminded her of the date, one of the worst days of Violet's life, the day that Klaus had begun to disappear from her life. She had actually helped Sunny pick out the shirt for their brother, who had just started his new job at the library at the time.

"Okay, another latte for you. I'll be right back." He headed for the back of the line to wait his turn to order. Violet didn't feel so hungry anymore as her thoughts drifted back to that miserable Christmas Eve and flashes of the dinner that she and Sunny had cooked, of sitting across from a pretty girl that looked suspiciously like herself, sitting next to a young man who wrote books instead of read them, constantly aware of Klaus's heated gaze upon her whenever her date brushed his hand against her hair or her bared shoulder.

They had done it for Sunny, endured, because it had been her happy idea to get everyone together for Christmas. She remembered how Klaus had instantly volunteered to help her serve the dessert and they had been left alone in the kitchen, for what, less than ten minutes?

She'd taken the pie from the oven where it was warming, then stood to face her brother, each face reflecting the misery of the other. "I don't think I can pretend anymore," she said simply. He crossed the room and had her in his arms in a second, crushing her lips with his. Violet could taste the sweetness of wine on his tongue. She wrapped herself around him, pulling her whole body to curve into his. His hands were already underneath her little gray, baby doll dress, had already pulled the tiny straps off her shoulders to kiss up and down her collarbones, brushing up her thighs and bottom to hold her tightly around her back, feeling her cool skin as he splayed his fingers. Violet remembered how immediately ignited she'd felt, on fire for him as he backed her into the corner of the fridge and the counter.

"He can't have you, Violet. You're mine." Klaus's words were reminiscent of those he'd said to her after waking from a nightmare, so many years ago. He must have remembered, too. "You said you were mine," he reminded her. He'd pushed her panties down her thighs, and his fingers had set to exploring, making her mind fuzzy, her breaths fast.

"If you want me to be yours, then you have to be mine," she reminded him in return, but he was unzipping his pants, urging her to spread her legs for him, all thoughts of company totally unheeded.

"I"m yours," he said. "I'm yours," he promised as he had lined himself up with her center, ready to press in, the two desperately clinging to each other, ready for the relief that always came with their desperate couplings.

"Violet? Is everything okay?" Sunny called from the dining room. Klaus startled away from his sister, putting himself back together as quickly as possible, and all Violet could do for a minute was hold her hand to her mouth. They had totally forgotten that their little sister and their respective dates were in the very next room. "Do you need my help?"

"Almost done in here," Klaus called back in a shaky voice. "We'll be right out." But Sunny came through the door anyway. She took in the scene. The uncut pie, Klaus's messy hair, then stared at Violet with such concern on her face that Klaus turned to look at his older sister, too. "Shit," he cursed. Violet was a mess, a mess that he had created. Her pretty dress was rumpled, her usually smooth hair looked a bit windblown, if honest, from where he had run his fingers through, but most telling of all were her lips. They were red and puffy, her lipstick smeared, and he wondered if his lips were tinted the same shade of red. Her neck was reddened where the soft stubble of his five o'clock shadow had rubbed against the delicate skin as he kissed her there. Both of them were breathing way harder than the situation should've called for if they had just been serving dessert. Violet couldn't have been more mortified. She couldn't look at either of them. What if it hadn't been their trusting sister that had walked in? She didn't want to think about what could've happened.

"Sunny, take the pie and some plates out, will you?" Klaus asked his younger sister kindly, stepping in front of Violet, eager to divert her attention. "We'll be right out, okay?" She had nodded, never taking her eyes off of her sister. Klaus handed her the plates and set the pie on top. "We'll be out in just a minute." She finally turned and left.

"God, Violet," he was trying to smooth her hair, trying to wipe the smudges of her lipstick off with his fingers, but it was no use. There was too much evidence of what had been going on. How could they have been so careless when there was so much at stake? "I'm so sorry," he whispered, overly aware now of the people in the next room. "It'll never happen again, I swear. We'll leave, okay? I'll go back to DC tonight. This was a bad idea. We should never be left alone together." Violet remembered thinking how they had not been alone, far from it, and it hadn't made a difference, had it? "I'm sorry," he said again, but the warmth had disappeared from his voice. Now he would block his emotions, try to be normal for everyone, try to distance himself from his feelings for Violet, using his shame and the same old excuses to build a barrier between them. They were valid excuses, ones Violet knew by heart, had even made up some of them herself, but they didn't keep her from hurting as he'd left, leaving before the pie was even served, taking his pretty girlfriend with him. And he'd been mostly gone ever since.

Klaus had phoned the next morning to wish Sunny a Merry Christmas and to thank her for the gifts. When Sunny told him how much she had liked his friend, he explained to her that they had broken up on the trip back to DC. Then Sunny told him that Violet had also broken up with her friend. "Isn't that a weird coincidence?" Sunny had asked, all too knowingly. Violet had inexplicably broken down in tears at this news, and Sunny had comforted her all day, sitting with her on the couch and watching sappy Christmas movies together.

Juggling two cups of latte, Klaus came back with a plate with a croissant and egg, and another plate with pastries. "Hungry?" she asked. She hadn't been angry at him for leaving. He had done what was probably best for them, and it had hurt him as much as it had hurt her. She was mostly just so sorry for him, and honestly, for herself, too.

"Well, I never know when you're going to stop on the road to feed me. You are a driving machine," he teased.

"I've been looking at the map. We're never going to make it all the way to Mount Rushmore today if we have to stop to feed your growing body every two hours. Actually, we may not make it there today, at any rate. Eat up. Be quick."

"That's not fair. You've had a nice, leisurely breakfast."

"Well, I guess the early bird does catch the worm." she chuckled.

"Believe me when I say, you are not clever," he teased. Violet stuck her tongue out at him.

Klaus had wanted to get pictures of them at a famous sculpture called Cloud Gate, or The Bean, which most people call it for its shape. It was made out of shaped stainless steel, distorting and reflecting the city and themselves. It was only a short walk from the hotel to the famous Millennial Park. They passed a large amphitheater where workers were getting ready for some event later that day. After seeing The Bean and texting Sunny a few pics of themselves reflected with Chicago in the background, they walked across the large, curving BP Pedestrian Bridge, which was also made out metal. Down by the lake they could see the pier that sported a large ferris wheel, but it looked to be quite a walk and the hour was still a little early, so nothing would be open over there.

Klaus took her hand and pulled her toward the pedestrian walkway that wound its way to the pier. "We won't walk all the way, but let's just enjoy the morning for a few minutes. We'll be stuck in the car for a long time."

Violet was having so much fun playing the tourist, that she didn't even consider arguing. A cool breeze played around her ankles and blew her maxi skirt behind her as she walked, and she was glad for her jean jacket. Early morning joggers and mothers with strollers passed them, but the siblings were evidently in no hurry, contrary to how Violet had felt on the way out of the hotel this morning. Maybe coffee had settled her. Maybe Klaus's warm hand covering her cool one helped to settle her. He pulled her onto some decking that overlooked Lake Michigan, with the pier and ferris wheel in the background, for another selfie. When they had smiled for the camera, Klaus pulled her close by the waist. "What if we just move here to Chicago, where nobody knows us, Violet? We can buy a little apartment and eat deep dish pizza everyday. What do you think?"

"What about your job? You love your job." She laughed at his playfulness. Whenever she visited the city she always fantasized about moving there to enjoy all of the food and culture.

"I love you more," and he didn't say it like he was teasing, making her look away quickly, though he tried to hold eye contact. That was a problem with their relationship. Although they tried to stay away from the other, they never denied how they felt, never lied to each other or themselves. They had experienced too much together to deny any of it, but it was only awkward for a moment, then Klaus kissed her cheek and pulled her back down the path the way they had come.

They loaded their car with their few belongings and Klaus tipped the valet. Violet volunteered to drive them out of the busy city, but regretted it right away as they sat in traffic. "I am so sorry, Klaus. We could still be walking to the pier, instead of sitting here in this mess. What a waste of time!" Traffic always aggravated her.

"It doesn't matter. It won't last too much longer," he said, checking their status on the phone map. "Looks like we're going through Wisconsin today. Should we stop for some cheese?"

"Oooh, yes," Violet agreed, "or beer." She waggled her eyebrows at him.

"Or cheese and beer?" Klaus teased her, but she was totally serious.

"Yes, please," she said. "You know me so well! Can you see what you can find on the map along the way?"

After traffic, the rest of the ride until lunch time was smooth sailing. Klaus had actually found a place that was a cheese store and tavern, and luckily, right off of their route. Well not right off the route, but definitely worth the adventure. The store front was in a historic district and several people were already sitting at tables eating their lunch. One wall of the store was covered in deli cases and cheese wheels. The other wall was stacked with cases of beer and also had a small bar with several choices on tap. Whatever part of the wall that wasn't covered with cheese or beer had posters and dairy signs tacked up. There was a small menu of sandwiches over the deli case.

"Well hello," greeted a man, probably in his thirties. "What can I get for ya?"

"What do you suggest?" asked Klaus.

"Everything is good," he assured. "We do a mean grilled cheese here, and the chili is amazing."

"All right, I'll have a grilled ham and cheese, and maybe…I'll try a bowl of chili?"

"Chips?" the man asked.

"Yes, thanks." Both men turned to Violet.

"I'll have the same, but can I share your chili, Klaus?" she asked. After he nodded his consent, she ordered her drink. "And what beer do you suggest?"

"Goodness, like I said, everything is good. Do you want sweet, spicy, smoky, fruity, or bitter? Dark or light?" he asked.

"That's a hard decision. Let me try something…smoky, then? What do you think you want to try?" looking to her brother.

"Give me something on the light side," Klaus said, playing it safe and Violet made a face at him.

They sat at a table in the window and the afternoon sunshine poured over them and cast colors on the table through their glasses of beer. The food was good, the cheese delicious and melty, the chili a little too spicy for their tastes, but that didn't stop them from gobbling it all down. Violet stole Klaus's pickle off his plate and they posed for a selfie with their half empty glasses to send to Sunny. The beer made them feel leisurely and not in any hurry to get back on the road.

"I'm sooo sleepy, now," Violet complained. She didn't usually drink, so one glass was enough to affect her, and it had been a large glass. She wasn't drunk, just so relaxed. She reached across the table to put her hand into Klaus's. "Should we take a nap?"

"We'll never get there if we sleep all day. Maybe you should try sleeping at night instead of waking up at the crack of dark everyday!" Klaus advised.

"I sleep," she defended. "How are you sleeping these days?" she asked, giving his hand a squeeze as he looked away, out of the window.

"About the same. Maybe only once or twice a week," he said, referring vaguely to his nightmares, that were a vivid mix of memory and imagination. "No one can calm me down like you do, though... I mean,…not that there have been that many to try. I mean…sorry, that was insensitive," he stuttered a little.

Violet smiled at his discomfort. "Klaus. I know all about your girlfriends. Sunny tells me everything! In fact," she offered indulgently, "I had hoped you would fall in love and finally be really happy. You've got to know that is all I want for you. I want you to be happy, no matter what." She didn't have very much experience in the boyfriend department, herself. There had been only a few and they had not lasted very long. How could she be with someone who couldn't know her in and out, and who could ever know her better than Klaus? She had too many secrets.

"Well, that's a generous thing to say, Violet. I'm not sure I could reciprocate those feelings for you. I mean, of course I want you to be happy, but it's either going to be happy with me or happy leading a life of celibacy."

"Well, I can tell you firsthand, leading a life of celibacy isn't so great, so I guess that only leaves…" she waggled her eyebrows.

"Are you drunk?" he asked at her flirtatious behavior.

"Maybe a little," she sighed resignedly. "Will you drive while I take a nap?" She got up from the table to head to the bathroom one last time before getting on the road again.

Violet slept, stretched out in the backseat, for an hour and a half, waking up to the windows rolled down and Klaus singing quietly along to the radio. She just laid still, feeling the wind blow her hair around her face, the sun warming her legs as it shone warm in through the window. This song was one her parents used to play all the time, and though it brought back bittersweet feelings about them, it mostly made her feel good, more of a general nostalgia that made her smile.

"Hey, I know you're awake back there," Klaus called over the sound of the wind and the radio.

"How could you possibly know that? I'm not even sure if I'm awake yet," she said as she sat up, wrapping her arms around his chest from the backseat.

"Because the snoring stopped," he laughed. Violet pinched him and he squirmed away with an exclamation. "Ow!"

"I do not snore." She pulled herself through to the front, up and over the middle console, to plop herself unceremoniously into the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on.

"Yes, you do. Now you need to apologize for hurting me. I'm sure I'll have a bruise," he complained.

"Oh, I did? Let me see this bruise," she said, leaning over the center console to lift up his shirt.

He pointed to a perfectly unblemished spot on his side. "Here. Right here. Am I bleeding?"

"Right here?" she asked sweetly as she brushed her thumb over the spot he pointed to. When he nodded, she began to tickle that same spot, digging her fingers into his ribs, making him squirm in his seat again.

"Violet! I'm driving!" he tried to sound stern through his laughter, but truly, they were in the middle of nowhere, it seemed. There were no other cars around that she could see and Violet was amazed that they even had a radio station.

"Hey, look," he said excitedly. "We're about to cross the Mississippi River. That's something, huh?"

"Is it 3 o'clock already? Have you been driving like an old man? Oh my God. We're not getting very far, are we?" she poked his ribs again.

"I have an old soul," he replied cheekily.

They stopped for a quick supper in Sioux Falls. It felt like they had been driving forever, but if they were going to make it to Mount Rushmore tonight, there was another long leg ahead of them. Klaus dozed in the passenger seat, his head resting against the window, legs relaxed and spread as he slouched in the seat. His mouth was slightly opened, breaths even, and he reminded Violet so much of his younger self just then. She had watched him sleep hundreds of times. They had shared a bed until he'd left for college. Back when they were younger, having to share a bed had seemed like an integral part of their misfortunes, but they had come to need the reassurance that only another warm, breathing body can bring. Of course, as they had grown up, sharing a bed had meant much more than that. Kissing, as it is wont to do, had led to touching, bringing a whole new level of pleasure equaling a whole new level of guilt.

But touching leads to its own set of problems, doesn't it? Sex with Klaus was never fun. Good? God, yes. Passionate, sexy, desperate and heavy, needy, always filled with love, either whispered or called out loudly or simply shown in body language, with sweet kisses and caresses. They were familiar with each other's bodies, but never comfortable. They never let themselves get comfortable. Violet thought that is what she wished for most. She wished she could have so much uninterrupted time with Klaus, without any reason to feel ashamed, that she could love him at her leisure. She wanted to make love to him at night and then be certain in the knowledge that he would still be there for her to make love to again in the morning. She prayed so often that she could be enough for him. It was a selfish wish.

They had almost had that, right before he'd left for college. They had been nursing their relationship for several years by that time. Once Violet had finally inherited their money, and she bought her little house, of course he had lived there with her. They played house for a little while, but when Sunny had gone to boarding school, it had left the older two siblings quite alone, and with nobody to answer to but themselves, life had been as close to blissful as Violet had known in a long time. Honestly, it had been pretty damn close to what she was wishing for now. She sometimes lay alone in her bed and ached for the time when he had almost accepted what they were. She ached for the way his arms cradled her as he made love to her, the way he had learned to take his time, to make sure she was ready for him, how he would slide his body over hers just so, making sure she was feeling as much pleasure as he was.

Then, there was a short pregnancy scare. How stupid they were. All of the shame and the stigma had come rushing back, and then Klaus left for college soon after that. She was lonely, alone in the house, but he would come home sometimes for vacation, and as usual, they were unable to hold back from each other, not after being apart for so long, but they were prone to arguments back then, fighting over the littlest things, and it was never as easy between them again.

Night had fallen when Klaus woke up a couple of hours past Sioux Falls. He stretched and looked around into the interior of the car. "Hey," he said, rubbing at his eyes and cleaning his glasses. "Sorry I passed out on you. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said, just as a warning ding issued from the dashboard.

"What was that?" Klaus asked.

"Shit," Violet exclaimed softly, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Shit, shit, shit."

"What?"

"That was the gas light, but there hasn't been anywhere to stop for miles and miles. I knew we were getting low, but, what could I do?" She sounded worried.

"Don't panic. Even when the light comes on the vehicle usually can run for another thirty or forty miles." The car became silent, each person holding their breath and keeping their fingers crossed. Another twenty miles passed without a single exit, not another car on the road, no lights anywhere.

When another five miles passed, Violet cursed again. "We're not going to make it."

"There," Klaus pointed to a place where the sky was illuminated up ahead. "Something is there."

Violet took the exit. Well, it wasn't really an exit, more of a gravel road leading off of the highway to a small parking lot. The light was coming from an old sign, set high on a pole way up off the ground for travelers to see apparently, and it read, "One Stop Motel." The motel itself was a squat, square brick building with two floors, ten faded doors that faced the road and a rickety staircase. Some of the windows were lit up and some were dark. There were a couple of other cars in the lot, a run down truck, and a large semi parked along the side of the building.

Violet parked and shared a look with Klaus, both sets of eyebrows raised. "Well, maybe they can tell us where the closest gas station is," he said and got out of the car to stretch. They located a door on the first floor with a piece of paper taped to it, labelling it the 'Office'. "Do we knock?" Klaus asked.

He knocked and heard a 'Come in'. The inside of the office was dingy. The carpet might have been from the 1950's, and the furniture, too. It smelled strongly like cigarette smoke. "Are ya needin' a room?" asked a dingy looking man who probably also came from the 1950's.

"No sir," Violet answered. "We were wondering if there might be a gas station close by."

"Well," the man drawled. "There is Ned's, but it's on down the road, say ten miles?"

"We won't make it that far, I'm afraid," she told the man, sharing another look with Klaus.

"Well, Ned's closed anyway. We have a little gas for sale, but it's locked up in the shed and the Missus ain't here with the key. So, I guess you'll be needing that room?" he said hopefully.

"Excuse us just a minute," said Violet courteously, pulling her brother to the far corner of the small room.

"What choice do we have?" Klaus asked her, shrugging his shoulders.

"I know, but we were supposed to get another couple of hours down the road tonight," frustrated at the change in plans.

"We can stay here, see about getting enough gas in the morning to get us to Ned's and we'll be on our way." Violet nodded, because she knew they had run out of options. She turned back to the man at the low counter.

"Can we have two rooms, please?" she asked.

"Yeah, we have two available. Just one night?" and the man laughed like he had made a joke. Violet nodded anyway. "That'll be 120 dollars." Violet dug in her purse for her credit card, but when she tried to hand it to the man, he held up his hands, as if she were pointing a gun at him instead of a piece of plastic.

"Sorry, Miss. We don't take credit cards. Only cash."

"Only cash?" she asked incredulously, pawing through her purse. "I only have, like ten dollars."

Klaus dug out his wallet and pulled out some bills. "I have fifty."

"I'll tell you what," said the man. "You two look like a sweet couple, so I'll make you a sweet deal. You can have one room, and I'll make sure it's our deluxe suite, and," the man managed to break the word _and_ into at least three syllables, "I'll even throw in enough gas to get you to the station tomorrow. How does that sound?"

Violet gave Klaus a worried glance. They really shouldn't be sharing rooms. They had behaved so far, but that's how it always was with them. Klaus also looked worried, his mouth drawn in a tight line, then his face fell into resignation when he met her eyes. "What choice do we have?" he repeated.

Their room was on the first floor and it was a far cry from the luxury of the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago. The One Stop Motel's idea of a deluxe suite included a glorified twin bed, was it supposed to be a full? It seemed awfully small, a tiny bathroom with two tiny towels, a fan, and an old television that probably broadcast in black and white, if it worked at all. The carpet's pattern had long been worn away and Violet wasn't sure she could tell what color it was supposed to be through all of the stains on it. Please, please, please let there be clean sheets on the bed, she thought to herself.

Klaus threw his duffel onto a rickety ladder back chair and started rummaging through its contents, pulling out sweats and a small toiletry bag that contained his toothbrush and toothpaste. Violet stood still in the middle of the room, feeling miserable, and kind of scared to touch anything. When had she become such a snob? Without a word, Klaus went into the bathroom and closed the door. She sighed heavily, and placed her suitcase on the bed, pulling out shorts and a soft tee shirt. She closed the curtains of the one window that looked out at the parking lot and began to undress. She rubbed at her neck, where her muscles were stiff from driving and stress. She pulled on her shorts, took off her bra, then put on her tee shirt. She turned and was surprised to see Klaus, still and silent, watching her from the bathroom door. He was dressed as he had been this morning, God that seemed like an eternity ago, bare chested, with his broad shoulders that tapered down to a thin waist, his dark hair contrasting with his pale skin.

They stared at one another for a long minute, when Klaus finally shook himself from whatever thought he was having. "I guess…I guess I'll take the floor," he suggested.

"No!" Violet was absolutely horrified at the prospect of him laying on the filthy carpet. "God, I'm even afraid to take off my shoes. We can both sleep in the bed." She reached for her own toothbrush and headed into the tiny bathroom, where she took a minute to war with herself, to argue a hundred hypothetical situations, to splash water on her face and brush her teeth. When she came back out Klaus was already in bed, facing the bathroom door, waiting for her. He had pulled the top bedspread off onto the floor. Good. She didn't trust it.

She flipped off the light switch, and bright light from the hotel sign peeked in through the cracks in the curtains. Climbing into bed, she slid her body back towards Klaus's. He brushed her hair out of his face, then wrapped his arm around her, assuming their habitual sleeping positions, perfected out of years of practice. She could feel the tenseness of his body against her back, so she guessed they wouldn't be falling asleep right away, although she felt a weariness behind her eyes that comes from concentrating on the road for so many hours at a time. "Rub my eyebrows?" she asked, breaking the silence between them. It was something she used to do for him to calm him after a night terror. "My eyes are tired." He used his thumb to trace her eyebrows, back and forth across her forehead, until she pulled his palm to her lips for a sweet kiss. "Thank you."

Instead of returning his arm to holding her again, he rubbed his palm across her chin, his thumb across her cheek, pushing his fingers past her temple and into her hair, brushing it all back to expose her neck, then palmed down over her shoulder under the fabric of her shirt. He kneaded her shoulder with his thumb, and it felt so good after the long drive. He pushed his thumb up her spine and into her scalp, then back down again, and followed her other shoulder down to the mattress, where it was partly buried between her body and Klaus's.

Violet heard a door shut somewhere, and muffled conversations and laughter from the next room, but it had nothing to do with them, and she relaxed into Klaus's touch. There was a single knock, like something hitting the wall by their headboard, followed by another and another, which were soon accompanied by the sounds of sex. A woman moaned loudly with every bang of their neighbor's bed against their shared wall.

Both Violet and Klaus had stilled, tensing as they realized what the commotion was. "Well, here we are in our own private hell," Klaus said, obviously frustrated. He sat up and banged his fist on the wall. "Will you shut the fuck up?" he called.

"Fuck off, man," came the muffled reply. Klaus practically growled in frustration.

"Klaus!" Violet sat up on her knees and faced him. "What is wrong with you?"

"I want you, Violet," he exclaimed running his hands through his hair. "I want you like I always do."

"So, have me then," she said simply, exasperated.

"Don't you see? I've done everything right. I worked so hard to stay away from you, to prevent feeling," he gestured wildly between them, "this!"

"And did it work, Klaus? Have you fallen out of love with me yet? Has all your atonement for our sins helped at all?" He shook his head, looking like he might cry, like he might go crazy, because the couple next door was going at it good and strong. "This," she gestured between them like he had just done, "is not going to go away. It's part of us and no amount of shame or guilt is going to change how much you love me or how much I love you… because I love you so much." She scooted towards him so that their knees touched.

"I've been trying to protect you from me," he tried to explain.

"I want you, you idiot! I don't need your protection. I want you to love me. I want you to be with me, to choose me. I want to be enough for you," her voice rose as she finally listed all her wishes out loud to him. "I want to take my time with you and not be scared that if I don't hurry, hurry, hurry, that I won't get to love you at all."

He stared at her, his eyes moving from her eyes to her mouth. "Violet…" but she held up her hands to silence him. A man had joined the woman in her moans, incoherent words of encouragement coming from behind the wall.

"But more than anything, I want us to lay down all this shame, stop looking back and stop feeling guilty. We've made mistakes. Life hasn't been easy for us. Life isn't fair and who knows that better than us? I hate being apart from you, and no amount of guilt or shame or atonement ever changes the fact that I love you so much, that if I had a chance to do it all over, I would choose you every time."

Klaus unconsciously scooted closer, so his thighs intertwined with hers as they knelt before each other. "But, all of our reasons for not being together, they still stand. It's wrong."

"It is, Klaus," she said, and he raised his eyebrows, surprised at her agreement, "but does knowing that it's wrong change how you feel about me?" He shook his head. "Has it ever made you feel good to know you were doing the right thing? Was it worth hurting me, ruining our chance at any happiness in this world?"

"No, of course not. I never wanted to hurt you. I thought this was what you wanted," he admitted.

"Do you want me, Klaus? Would it make you happy to be with me?" she asked sincerely.

"Yes, more than anything. You know that!" The couple next door were reaching the fever pitch, shaking the wall and even the bed that Klaus and Violet were kneeling on.

Violet lifted her arms up to run her hands along his scalp, and he encircled her waist with his arms. "If it would truly make you happy, you can have me right now, Klaus," she said, then captured his lips in a sweet kiss, but before he could return her ardor, she pulled away, rubbing her thumb across his bottom lip as she continued, "but you have to promise me. Promise me that you'll love me without feeling ashamed, that you won't feel guilty in the morning, that you'll still be here when I wake up, and not just today, but everyday?" She waited for his answer.

"How? You make it sound so easy. What if something goes wrong and we get caught?" he asked. "Then I wouldn't forgive myself."

"We are all grown up now, Sweetheart. When was the last time someone came checking up on you? Besides, people like to believe the best in others, and most will just assume that we're quirky." Klaus actually chuckled at this. "I'm not saying we advertise our relationship, but I feel confident that our secret could easily stay between us."

She brushed her lips against his again, leaning up on her knees, pulling her body as close to his as possible, and he pushed his hands under her shirt and spread them over the small of her back. "So here's my ultimatum, Klaus. You can choose to be lonely and miserable, ashamed of all the love we've made, or," and of course she kissed along his jaw to help him make his decision, "or you can choose to let me love you, right now and possibly forever, hopefully forever, and I will do my best to make you as happy as you make me. Let me be enough, please?"

"Violet, you are more than enough, and…" his voice was shaky with emotion. "I am so sorry if I ever made you feel otherwise. You are the only thing worth living for. The only true happiness I've ever known has been when I'm with you. Without you, I've just been going through the motions, just surviving. I love you." He had to press his face close to hers so she wouldn't see how close he was to breaking down. He inhaled deeply, letting his breath go over her cheek. "I don't pretend to know the future, or what it holds for us, but I trust you, and if you say everything will work out then I will believe it with all my heart."

Violet was kissing him already, pulling at his lips with hers, taking her hands from his face to hold his shoulders, then run her thumbs over his collarbones. She explored his torso, feeling his nipples with her open hands, and the soft hair across his chest, then pulling at his sides and dipping her fingers into the waistband of his pants. His body felt warm and firm, and he was touching her, too, pulling her shirt off, pushing her hair back off her shoulders so he could kiss there. The sex from next door ended abruptly with a long, drawn out male groan, and in the sudden silence Violet felt like she needed to whisper.

"It's been so long," Violet said, voice quiet and breathy, her face turned into his hair as he mouthed along her collar bones.

"Too long," he agreed. "I have wanted you for too long. How silly I've been." She could only hum in agreement as he sucked one of her nipples into his mouth, leaning her back to lay on the bed and pushing his hands up her thighs to reach into her shorts, reaching into her panties, feeling how wet she was. Klaus spent a slow minute rubbing circles through her slick folds, all the while kissing across her chest and belly.

He knelt there, between her legs, and pulled off her shorts and panties in one go, leaving her bare before him, but he had seen her like this hundreds of times, and she felt no shame, only desire. After he leaned over her body for a searing kiss, she said, "I'd forgotten how good your mouth feels." Violet reached between their bodies and straight down his pants to stroke his erection, his body automatically reacting with a sharp thrust to her hand. "Take these pants off right now, Klaus," and with a combined effort he was rid of them and kissing her some more, his penis thrusting through her folds and sometimes just entering her. She wrapped her legs around his, forcing him closer, angling her hips to catch him on his upward thrust and he was inside her. They both groaned loudly at the sensation, and he pressed into her a little father.

Klaus was just getting started, lips pressed into her cheek, her neck cradled in his hands, and with only two long strokes of his body against hers, because that was all it took, she was grabbing his shoulders, using her feet to hold his pelvis tight to hers, and she was coming. Her muscles contracted in a surprisingly powerful wave, her legs shaking, and she became so tight she could feel every inch of him inside of her.

"Violet…God," Klaus gasped. "That's my beautiful girl. You feel so good. Yes, I remember how good you feel." He could feel her little flutterings around him and he began to move again, thrusting hard and quick through the remnants of her orgasm, making her cry out his name. "Oh, God. I'm sorry. I promise I'll take my time next time, but…" he was starting to breathe hard, "I have to have you."

"You have me," she assured him. "I'm yours." She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. He interlaced their fingers and stretched her arms up over her head, pinning her hands there with his weight, changing the angle of their hips as he leaned forward, pistoning in and out of her hard and fast, watching her breasts bounce as he did so. It was going to be quick. It always was when they had been pining over each other for too long. And it had been way too long, well over three years, she supposed. She knew when he was close by the way his hips slowed infinitesimally, and his strokes elongated. She knew by the way he let her hands free so he could curl his around her back, and the way he pressed the side of his face against hers, leaning his forehead on their pillow. She could hear his harsh breaths in her ear. She pressed her lips into his shoulder, whispering encouragement there. "Klaus, you're mine. Come inside me. I want all of you now, okay?" and, "I love you," and "I love you," again, and then it was all too good and she didn't want him to stop, begged him not to stop.

"Violet," he growled in a frustrated warning. He was close, had wanted her so much, had been gratified when she was everything and more that he remembered. He couldn't believe he had ever willingly run away from this, because it wasn't just her body he had in his arms, was it? It was Violet's whole being, who she was, and he loved her so damn much and had done so since he was not more than a child. He was built up to the pinnacle now. He felt the intense rush of pleasure as he burst, pulse after pulse inside of her, felt the warmth of it as it gushed out around their coupling. Violet felt it, too, and it was enough to take her over the edge, harder than the first time, causing her to cry out, to dig her fingers hard into his upper arm, chest pressing up into Klaus's body, but he held her tight and still, his body heavy over hers, barely moving against her now.

After a long while, he lifted his head from where it rested, nestled in her neck, to look at her face, to rub his nose against hers, to kiss her softly. She had to pry her eyes open, she was so relaxed now, idly rubbing her fingers up and down his arms and shoulders, then following his spine up his neck. "Klaus." She said it with a smile, with love and hope and satisfaction, as a reminder that he was real and right here with her.

"Is this real?" he asked, as if he had read her mind. "Do you really think we can do this? Have a relationship… just be together? It sounds too easy."

"You call what we have easy?" she laughed, then sobered a bit. "Of course, it'll be harder when we get home, but we'll have to just come up with some plans. There will be some sacrifices, but nothing is more important to me than you." She kissed his lips with a quick peck, and he picked at the strands of hair that stuck to her damp neck and chest to smooth them out on the pillow. "I don't think I would want you to give up your job. I know you love it and I'm really proud of you."

Klaus rolled off of her onto his back beside her, bent his knees and rubbed at his chest. "What about Sunny?" Yes, that wonderful girl that they each had raised from an infant, whom they loved as much as they loved each other. "She suspects already, I guess."

"Yes," she agreed, "but she's still quite young. She deserves the truth from us, but maybe a watered down version of it for now." Their hands met on the sheets between their bodies.

"Violet… Are you sure this is the way you feel, that you want me? I know it's sappy, but being here with you, listening to you tell me that you're not ashamed of us, knowing you want me in your life, it feels a little bit like heaven."

"It feels a little bit like home."


	4. Middle of Nowhere to Bozeman

"Sometimes the most scenic roads in life

are the detours you didn't mean to take." Angela N. Blount

**Middle of Nowhere to Bozeman**

The red, illuminated numbers of the old digital clock read 5:30 am. Violet, who couldn't sleep anymore, slowly sat up, and leaning back against the headboard, was careful not to disturb her brother, who apparently could sleep through most anything. A storm had blown in sometime in the very early hours of the morning, loud thunder and sharp lightening jarring her body awake with a spike of adrenaline. Even now, rain lashed at the window in gusty torrents, but the worst of the storm seemed to have passed.

Reaching for her phone, she attempted to check her emails, and by some small mercy, the satellite must have flown over and made contact with this desolate part of the country. Last night she had attempted to sign in to WiFi, using the code provided on a hand written sign at the front desk, but even though her signal was reading strong, there was no internet or cell service.

There were two emails from Sunny's school. One of them was a quick weekly newsletter featuring a picture of her sister, dressed in her black skirt and white blouse that was required for choir, but standing at the microphone for her solo at the grandparent's event. She looked happy, smiling at the crowd. Her blond hair had never turned dark like Violet's or Klaus's and she wore it up in a loose bun in the photo. An intense ache of homesickness bloomed in Violet's chest at the sight of her beloved sister. Maybe one day soon, they could all be together, and for more than just a few hours.

The third email was the one she was hoping for. It was from Jerome Squalor's lawyer, Jack Dunlap. He was emailing to remind them of their meeting with the address to his office. Disappointingly businesslike, the note contained no hint of what could be waiting for them there. Klaus was probably right. If Jerome had something for them, then why didn't he give it to them years ago? They had made contact with Jerome again once Violet had turned 18, but he only gave excuses, unable, or unwilling to answer any of their questions about VFD or their parents. Violet wasn't even sure what she wanted to know at this point. She definitely did not want to be back on VFD's radar, not now that almost all of their contacts were dead. Her main priorities had been to keep Klaus and Sunny safe from that organization, but questions swirled in her head about her parents. Why had they sent the children away to Briny Beach that foggy morning? They obviously knew something was going to happen so why not save themselves? To their credit, her parents had done their own small secretive part to educate the children to be able to survive this secret organization, but a little forewarning could have saved them a lot of misfortune. It was futile to think that Mr. Dunlap was about to hand them over all the answers to her questions, but still, she yearned to know. Klaus told her already that it was most likely the deed to some ugly, expensive penthouse, his attempt to make up for what a god-awful guardian he had been, but hey had no need of anything material that Jerome Squalor could give them.

She felt movement beside her, then Klaus's hand on her leg. She reached down to his head on the pillow, running her fingers through his unruly morning curls, one of her favorite things to do ever, a small luxury to her. "Is it time to get up already?" he asked blearily.

"No, it's early. You can sleep," she said quietly, still carding her fingers through his hair.

"What time is it?" he asked, pressing his palms into his eyes, turning onto his back. "Can you hand me my glasses?" She passed them from the nightstand to his hand. "Thanks."

"It's almost six."

"Geez. Why must you always wake up before the sun?" he exclaimed quietly, sitting up, propping his pillow up against the headboard and leaning against it like Violet.

"Well, technically I slept in this morning, since we're in a different time zone," she said cheekily. "Look." She pulled up the newsletter email from her phone featuring Sunny's photo to show her brother. He took it from her.

"She looks happy," he stated. "Wish we could've heard her, but I'm sure we'll get a chance another time. She's doing well there." He scanned through the newsletter article, "I'm glad. She's so smart, like you." He handed Violet back her phone.

"Like you," she said, placing the phone back on the nightstand. They were shoulder to shoulder in the dark room, the sounds of rain against the window quieter than it had been. He leaned over to kiss her temple, and when she looked up at him, he kissed her lips, too. He pulled at the sheet she had been using for modesty, exposing her breasts to his hands. Now that she thought about it, they hadn't gotten a lot of attention last night, and his hands felt really good. He cupped her, having to reach across her in their awkward position, running his thumb over the swell of her breast and across her nipple. "That feels nice," she encouraged.

He slid his hand down her side, nudging her hip, expressing without words that he wanted her to move. He led her to straddle his waist, his erection poking up from between her thighs. Now, he could use both hands to touch her chest, and used his mouth on her neck to send trails of goosebumps racing over her arms and breasts. She knew she would like to take this slow, but the thrum of arousal coursing through her demanded her to take Klaus into her body and move against him steady and hard. Reaching down between their bodies, she stroked Klaus with her hand, just until she could feel his own wetness dampening the tip of his erection. She lifted herself onto him, and he grabbed her waist, guiding her slowly, at first, but then let her find her own rhythm.

Klaus did not like to be out of control of any situation and that also applied to sex. Violet knew this truth about her brother from experience. He normally only tolerated her on top for a short time, before he would flip them over, finishing things on his own terms. So, she knew it took a tremendous amount of trust on his part to let her have her way with him. She took hold of the rails of the headboard to leverage herself, riding him at a moderate pace, rolling her pelvis against his to stimulate all of her sensitive spots. Every time he managed to reach that certain spot inside her, a quick little moan would emanate from the back of her throat. He was staring at her while she chased her pleasure, enjoying her, and she felt the need to kiss that self-satisfied look off of his face. He groaned at the force of her mouth on his, finally moving his hands to cup her bottom and slide up her damp back into her long hair to tug at a handful of it, pulling her head back so he could attack her neck again with his lips and his teeth.

She had long since learned to enjoy his dominant nature. He never hurt her, but a small amount of pain often enhanced the pleasure. He nipped his way down to her breasts, sucking in her nipple hard, causing her to cry out, then licked at it with the flat of his tongue to soothe away the sharpness of the pain. Violet's center tightened in little pre-orgasmic pulses, clutching at his hardness, pulling him with her as she continued to move over him, sweat dripping down her thighs from her back and bottom.

"Oh God, Violet." His voice was low and husky. He rubbed his hands restlessly now up and down her back, and Violet could tell he was fighting the urge to take control, so she let him have it. Violet pulled abruptly all the way off of his lap, to his protest. She turned away from him and bending over onto her forearms, was effectively on all fours. She looked over her shoulder at him, but he'd caught on immediately and was getting onto his knees behind her. He squeezed at the globes of her bottom and she expected to feel his thrust. "You are such a good girl," he said, and he managed to say it sincerely, without any derogatory tone. The bed dipped behind her, but then she felt a soft, warm lick along her sweet spot, and the surprise of it made her gasp and her limbs to tremble.

"Klaus!" she called, his name sounding loud in the early morning. Licking and sucking gently at her, he pushed his fingers into her vagina. She couldn't take the intensity of his mouth very long, and came quickly, with her forehead pressed into the mattress, breathing hard. Now came the thrust. He hadn't waited until she was done before removing his fingers and pushing in hard through her tense resistance. Her walls fluttered erratically around him, as he encircled her waist to pull her hips back to meet his every thrust. He curled his body around her back, holding her against his chest.

He was vigorous, causing the bed to squeak, and he was saying all manner of sexy endearments to her, calling her a good girl, and telling her how good she felt. If Violet wasn't so lost to the mindless pleasure of it all, she might have found it funny how good sex affected her articulate brother. He became incredibly hard, she could feel the difference, and his strokes slowed, which was his usual tell, and he ejaculated with a low groan, leaning heavily over her, as she supported their combined weight with her arms, planting his face between her shoulder blades, huffing out large breaths. "You are so,… so good to me. I don't deserve you."

There came a loud knock on the wall behind their bed and a muffled man's voice calling, "Now that's the way it's done, man!" Violet giggled, almost embarrassed, knowing they'd had an audience, but…that was karma.

The morning was a test of patience. They couldn't leave the motel without the gas and they couldn't have the gas until someone came with the key. Violet showered in the mildewy stall of the bathroom. The overhead light was one of those that was harshly bright, but still seemed too dim. The water that she rinsed her mouth out with after brushing her teeth tasted of sulfur. The hours ticked by slowly. Hours that Violet knew they should be on the road.

Klaus came back from checking the office, for the second time, around 9 am with good news. He had to haggle with the lady. She wanted more money for the gas, but Klaus had finally won the argument, as he is known to do, and they were finally loading their bags into the trunk of the car and saying goodbye to that place, hopefully forever.

"We're way behind schedule. It's lucky we had an extra day built in, but I still don't like it." Violet was at the wheel first, already plotting a GPS course to Ned's gasoline station, because she didn't think she could handle Klaus's slower driving when she felt like this.

"It's still early. We're okay. It just seems late because you woke up so early," Klaus tried to appease her, placing a hand on her thigh over the console. "Although, I think I could handle that kind of early morning entertainment every day." He smiled and squeezed her thigh.

Violet rolled her eyes. "Well. I guess I am pretty surprised that you are handling everything so well."

"Why would you say that?"

"We have a history… and we are nothing, if not creatures of habit." She grabbed his hand as he tried to pull if from her leg. "I'm happy, Klaus. You make me happy. I want you to stay with me. Is that selfish?"

"No. It's what I want, too. I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around the idea. I didn't know that being with you was ever an option. I'm not even sure how to be happy. For a long time now, I'd decided happiness was just an impossibility for me, but now, with you, it's here. Just like that. My life can finally begin?" he said it like a question, like he needed permission from Violet.

She looked at him for a long second, to see what emotion his face was portraying as he said these words. He looked a little confused and a little hopeful. "Why did we wait so long?" she asked.

It was a two and a half hour drive to Mount Rushmore. It began to rain again in earnest, a heavy, torrential downpour that had Violet turning her windshield wipers onto the highest setting. She sat up straighter at the wheel in an attempt to see the road more clearly. Violet was relieved to finally pull off the exit at Rapid City, scrubbing her palms over her face as she waited at a stop sign. No one else was on the road and she needed a break.

"Want to switch?" Klaus asked her, unbuckling his seatbelt. Violet gave him a look, her lips pursed and her nose scrunched. "I'll be careful. It's not far from here, right?"

"Yeah, I guess that would be nice. You're taller, so you'll be able to see better." Putting the car into park, Violet climbed into the backseat to let Klaus crawl across the console. A car had appeared and honked behind them. Violet quickly got into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt. "I'll navigate."

It was still more than ten miles to the park. There were no other cars in line at the ranger station. The parking attendant told them that visitation was really low today, due to weather. "There's a tornado warning out," the uniformed woman told them, "and we don't advise anyone to use the trails today."

Klaus pulled the car into a parking lot, empty except for three other vehicles. The pair made a mad dash through the rain to the first building, that sold audio tours. There was another quick run along a promenade to reach the cafe and gift shop. After that was the Visitor's Center and then up to the terrace to view the presidents carved into the mountain. It really was a terrible day to visit the park. Visibility was low as dark clouds hung heavy over everything and the rain poured cats and dogs. Lightening flashed intermittently, followed by a crashes of thunder that told them the storm was directly overhead.

"I would really like a nice picture of me with the presidents in the background, you know, for work, because of the new exhibit," Klaus said. "Especially with Jefferson." Violet tried to get a few photos of Klaus, but they really weren't turning out too well, not to mention he was soaking wet by now. "Never mind," he said, disappointed, "let's just get out of here. Maybe we can get ice cream at the cafe?"

"I'm sorry," was all Violet said, but as they were walking back through the buildings via the wide promenade, the rain began to let up just a little. Klaus was looking at the brochure he'd picked up at the visitor's center, and motioned Violet to look at it with him.

"Maybe we can just take this trail up partway and get a better angle for the photo," he said pointing at a little dotted line on the map that led around and up the mountain. "There's another viewing terrace up here, see?"

"I don't know. The lady at the entrance told us the trails were closed due to the weather."

"We'll be quick," Klaus persuaded. "I really would like to try for another picture. Don't you want a good one of us to send to Sunny?" Violet shrugged her shoulders irresolutely. She was pretty sorry that Klaus was so disappointed in their Mount Rushmore stop.

"I guess."

"Okay, let's go back out to the parking lot. The trail begins at the end of it, here." He pointed to the map again. At least he was smiling now.

The rain had let up significantly, although the sky remained quite dark. The trail was a small paved sidewalk that began on the far side of the lot from where they had parked. The sidewalk inclined significantly, and the hike, though damp, was pretty with the mountain ahead of them and pines on either side of the trail. Klaus shoved the map into his back pocket and led Violet by the hand up the steep hill.

The trail was a good half mile, and it opened up into another viewing terrace. It was slightly to the side, but still a really good view. They took advantage of the break in the rain to snap a couple of better photos and of course the selfie of them both, wet and bedraggled with the presidents behind them.

Lightening flashed, and as if on cue, the sky opened up and let out its fury. There was rain, heavy and cold, and there was wind. It became so gusty that Violet's hair blew around her head like Medusa's snakes. "Let's go," Violet hollered to be heard over the sudden wind, and she began to run back down the hill they had just come up, with Klaus just behind her.

Lightening was flashing constantly now, thunder crashing in their ears. A particularly close flash caused Violet to scream and duck, but she kept running. "Violet, watch out!" Klaus grabbed her around the middle, stopping her suddenly, jerking the breath out of her lungs and they toppled backwards together and slid a few inches down the decline. A large pine fell across the trail, just feet away from where they tangled together, right where Violet would have been a few seconds later.

There was no time to rest. Klaus urged her up and they were running around the burnt up trunk of the tree, continuing down the hill, hoping and praying not to get struck by lightning. Violet was out of breath and holding the stitch in her side as they ran around the last bend in the trail leading back to the parking lot. They ran all the way across the empty parking lot, the wind blowing small debris across their path. Violet just happened to look backwards over her shoulder to where they had just come from and could see the faint outline of a suspiciously funnel shaped cloud, luckily heading east, away from them. Violet pointed at it and Klaus only spared a short second to look at it, before dragging her towards the car, fumbling with the wet key fob as he ran.

They were less than twenty feet away from the car when thunder hit so hard, they could feel the echoes of it through their bodies. Violet screamed again and they scrambled into the back seat quickly, rain water dripping from their hair and clothes, their shoes soaked. Violet slammed the door behind her and the stillness inside of the car caused her ears to ring. Klaus was panting harshly and had collapsed back onto the seat to lay with his eyes closed and his hand over his heart. He pulled his rain speckled glasses off and let them drop onto the floor of the car.

It still rained, harder than ever, but Violet felt so relieved to be inside the car that she began to laugh, adrenaline still shooting through her veins. She crawled her body over Klaus's and he held her, still not opening his eyes, still breathing hard, as was she. She kissed his chin, still laughing, then his collarbone that showed through the soaked fabric of his shirt, following a line to his Adam's apple. His skin was cool and wet, causing his nipples to show clearly through his shirt and she placed her warm mouth over their hardness. It must've felt good, because Klaus tangled his fingers in the hair at the base of her neck and held her close. He said, "Whose idea was it to climb a mountain in the middle of a tornado, anyway?"

"Yours," she mumbled into his chest, trying to reach under him to pull his shirt loose. "And now I think you should be punished."

"What?" he protested as he lifted his back and peeled the shirt away from his wet skin, throwing it on the floor with his glasses. "I saved your life from a falling tree."

"I didn't say it wouldn't be a pleasurable punishment," she teased, undoing the button on his jeans, sitting up to tug them and his boxers down to his calves, turning them inside out in the process. Violet thought it was safe to say they had enough privacy in the empty parking lot with the wind and rain outside battering the car windows. She couldn't even see out. It took her less than thirty seconds to get Klaus totally naked in the backseat of the car. He didn't seem worried, either, because he was looking at her with hooded eyes and his erection was stiff, pointing to his belly button.

"Your turn," he said, indicating her wet clothes, the outline of her bra clearly visible through her shirt.

"No. Your punishment," she said deviously and the only other explanation was her giving a long lick from the base of his erection to the head, then taking him all in her mouth, bobbing her head slowly up and down, scratching her fingers in his soft pubic hairs, cupping his scrotum.

"Violet, no." He said in warning. He tried to put his hands back in her hair, but she pushed them away. The only way he would ever let her pleasure him like this was if he had some amount of control over it. He was unable to perfectly articulate that with her mouth doing such sinful things to him, but she understood. She didn't blame him for the way he was. It was a product of their chaotic upbringing. He simultaneously loved and hated it when she took control. He was saying, "No," but at the same time he was bucking his hips, trying to moderate the speed. She only held his hips heavily against the seat of the car and continued her slow pleasuring of him. She alternated using her hand, spreading her saliva over him, then using her lips and tongue. His nipples were puckered and trails of goosebumps spread across his belly. "Please, Violet," he whispered again and again. "No, please." He tried to put his hands in her hair again, but once more, she pushed them away.

She was tempted to let him have control. She had a soft spot for that particular quirk of his, but, she had let him have his way this morning, and he would enjoy it just as much this way. He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. "Oh God," he moaned. Her saliva had dripped down to puddle somewhat at the base of his erection and she ran her fingers through it and then down to the cleft of his bottom. "No, Violet. Don't you dare," he warned, breathily, "I can't take it." He used his feet, one on the seat and one on the floor, to try and back away from her hand, but as she rubbed her fingertip over his anus and applied just the smallest amount of pressure, he groaned and bucked his hips again. Keeping him in her mouth, bobbing her head still, she pressed her finger in just to the first knuckle, causing him to hiss in air through his teeth and his shaft to pulse several times in arousal. He cursed under his breath. She curled her knuckle and rubbed gently at the slick skin just inside. "Please," he began begging again.

She replaced her mouth with her hand, but didn't stop stroking him. "What is it that you want, Klaus?" she asked sweetly. "Do you want me to stop?"

He was nodding his head, but he breathed out a, "God, no." Then another, "Please, …I can't. You know I can't." She really wasn't sure what it was he thought he couldn't do. Maybe he couldn't take the sensation of her leisurely movements or maybe he felt like he couldn't give up so much control, but contrary to his incoherent pleading, his body was reacting just fine.

She said, "Yes, you can and you will," then put her mouth back over his erection, sucking and licking ever so slowly, pumping shallowly in and out of his bottom. He came without warning, without his usual tells, grabbing onto her hair finally, whether she wanted him to or not, holding her there, his legs trembling and his body arching as he spilled all into her mouth with a shout. His body became limp, a puddle of gooseflesh, and he was breathing hard as he came down from his high. He held her head, rubbing his fingers over her scalp as Violet kissed her way up his belly and chest, laying over him again, ending where she started by kissing his chin. "Did you like that?" she asked him, recent evidence making the answer obvious.

He grinned, barely able to open his eyes because he was so relaxed. "Yes, I did."

"Would you like me to do it again, later?" she asked cheekily.

"Absolutely not." He caught her lips with his, smiling against them. Resting his head back against the car door, he threw one arm over his face and held her with the other. The rain was letting up again. "Since you're dressed and I'm not, do you want to dig us out some dry clothes?"

Klaus was really not fit to drive after that. They each changed into dry clothes quickly in the backseat, leaving their sopping clothes in a pile on the floor. Violet drove them another couple of hours away from the park, taking the quickest route possible, which only saved them about ten minutes, before they stopped to eat. Klaus slept the whole way, his head held in his hand, propped against the window. Violet listened to music, but kept the volume low. They were so far behind schedule that Violet couldn't remember why she'd ever thought they could make the drive in three days. How silly and optimistic. They would make it for their appointment, but without much time to spare. There was a lot more to see out here, too, and Violet knew Klaus was very interested in visiting The Badlands and Yellowstone, among other places. Those sights were so close, but would take whole days to visit. Maybe they could come again and bring Sunny with them. It was hard being so far away from their young sister, even though she knew logically that Sunny would have been in school anyway.

After ordering fast food and a bathroom break, and of course topping off the gas tank, just in case, Klaus offered to drive again. It had been raining off and on all morning, no sunshine in sight. Violet checked the map on her phone and realistically decided they should stop in Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman was a fairly big place and was bound to have plenty of choices for hotels. That would leave them with almost ten hours to drive on Monday. "Why does America have to be so big?" she complained.

"Was it just yesterday you said how being on this road trip with me made you so happy? Are you that sick of me already?" he teased.

"It has nothing to do with you, I can assure you," she answered, "but, I wish we had more time. You know, to make more stops, see more. It feels too hurried."

"I was thinking, maybe," he began, like he wasn't sure how accepting she would be of his idea, "we could come again this summer, and bring Sunny with us. We could do Seattle again with her and then drive down the coast of California."

"Yes, I was thinking along the same lines," she answered, pleased. "There's so much to see, and that would give us some time to plan out everything we'd like to do. Sunny would love it!"

"She would love having us altogether," he reminded her. Sunny had been unhappy about the unusually long, seemingly self-enforced separation of her older brother and sister, who had always been her parent figures. It was like they had gotten a divorce and had joint custody over her. She would spend this holiday with Klaus, or that vacation with Violet, but never altogether. Violet knew it was somewhat confusing to the young girl, but Sunny was really smart, intuitive even, and seemed to understand something of the strange nature of Klaus's and Violet's relationship, and was often, but not always, tactful enough to offer comfort without saying anything about it.

Sunny would be ecstatic about the upcoming trip to DC. Violet had never been to visit Klaus, not since he got his new job at the library and moved to the city. Sunny had been begging Violet to come with her, but for reasons obvious to Violet and Klaus, she had always declined. Now, with their relationship in repair, she was excited at the prospect of seeing his apartment and all of the sights of the capital. Maybe Violet would encourage Sunny to start a travel journal. Maybe she should start one.

"Okay, I've got the GPS set. Will you be okay while I take a nap?" she asked.

"Why do you underestimate my driving skills?" he said indignantly. "It's not like I've never driven, I just don't really need a car in the city, so I was a little out of practice."

"Klaus, your driving has always worried me," she laughed. "I think that's just a mothering thing."

"God, we have a messed up relationship," he said.

"Hey," Violet warned.

"Last night," he interrupted her, "when I came out of the bathroom, and you were changing into your pajamas, but you didn't know I was there,… I watched you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have, but you were so lovely, Violet. Your long hair and your back was bare and…and the way you looked over your shoulder at me, not angry, or surprised, or embarrassed, just looked at me like I was a man who deserved to look at you."

Violet reached for his hand. "Klaus," she said, understanding.

"Seeing you there," he continued, "it was like deja vu." He paused, bringing her fingers to his lips while he watched the road. "Do you…do you remember our first time?" he asked quietly. She nodded, but he wasn't looking at her. Sometimes you have to look away when you say something important. Violet understood that. "It happened just like that. It was our first night in the new house. We had moved boxes all day and barely even got the beds made so we could sleep there. I had been thinking that maybe I should have my own room, that maybe the temptation wouldn't be so bad if we slept apart. I was coming to tell you that, dreading it, cause I didn't really want to be apart from you, and there you were. You had just taken a shower and apparently forgot to take your pajamas with you into the bathroom, because I had never seen you dress in the bedroom. You were always so modest. Your back was to me and I watched you, totally naked, and even though I had seen parts of you, I had never seen all of you, and you were beautiful. I was reminded why I was there as I began to feel …lecherous, but then you turned and noticed me, and you weren't disgusted by me. You were shy about it, but your smile, God, you stole my breath away. You began to put on your shirt for bed… and I stopped you."

"You took off your clothes, too, and crawled into bed, holding the sheet open for me." Violet reminisced. "I remember feeling so relieved because I had seen you making up the spare bed. I thought you might want to stay in your own room."

"I'm sorry. That was one of the stupidest ideas I've ever had, because changing my mind, staying with you that night, that was one of the best ideas I've ever had." He paused again. "When I saw you last night, that deja vu, it reminded me how stupid I've been, trying to keep so much distance between us, not much different than trying to put myself in a different room than you almost a decade ago."

"Getting into bed with you that first night in the house felt right to me," Violet said. "Like we were starting a new life together, in a new house, in a new city." Her thoughts kept going, remembering details of their first time together. They were still so young then. They were already familiar with each other's body, knew the mechanics of sex, but to actually experience it was a different thing altogether. She remembered the thrill of being totally naked with Klaus, the slow way he had maneuvered himself over her, giving her plenty of time to change her mind. She remembered how surprised she was, once he was inside her and moving, at how good it had felt for them both, how heavy his body felt on top of hers, his breath on her shoulder and over her mouth as he kissed her both places, whispering 'I love you's' to each other. "I remember exactly how you looked back then Klaus. When I think of you I almost always picture your face as you were when you were eighteen. I thought you were quite manly back then," she laughed lightly, "but now that you are a man I can see you were so young, just a boy, and me, just a girl."

"So much responsibility," Klaus agreed. "I always resented our parents for ever telling you to take care of us, no matter what. No fourteen year old girl should have that much responsibility."

"I would have taken care of you and Sunny even if they hadn't told me to. You and Sunny will always be my everything!"

"I've hated our time apart, Violet," he admitted. "I've missed being a family. I never want to be separated from you again."

"You don't have to be," said Violet, "but, I want you to be sure this is what you want." She meant a relationship, a partnership, but she gestured vaguely to herself when she said it. "It's fine if you need to think about it. We'll have a lot of details to discuss if it's what you decide. There will have to be some compromises, I guess."

"We have nothing but hours ahead of us on this road to make all kinds of decisions. We can get started right now," Klaus said enthusiastically. While Violet felt that is exactly what she wanted to do, too, she hesitated.

"Klaus, up until yesterday evening you were trying to actually physically avoid me. I want you. I want you in my life, one hundred percent, but I want you to be sure it's what you want. Here in this car, we are in our own little bubble that excludes the real world and reality, and it's easier to be who we want to be. When we get back home, well, I'm afraid your feelings might change."

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"I know, because the last few years without you have been misery. I've told you already. I'm only ever happy with you. I didn't know you wanted me just as much, or I would have been knocking down your door, I promise. I've stayed away because I thought a relationship with you would be wrong, but the only person I care about is you, and if you don't care if the relationship is wrong, then why should I?" Klaus paused for breath. "Does that make sense?"

"Yes, okay." Violet said. "Please, just think on it at least another day before you make me any promises, all right? It's a big decision." Klaus squeezed her hand. "Now think quietly, I'm taking a nap." Violet got as comfortable as the passenger seat would allow, propped her head against the window and closed her eyes.

Two minutes later, Klaus squeezed her hand again. "Violet?"

"Hmm?" she replied drowsily.

"What about children? Don't you want children?"

"Oh God, do you?" because somehow she hadn't thought of that. She was wide awake again, anxiety roiling in her belly. She knew for certain that she never wanted children, couldn't stand the possibility of leaving them alone in this world, the way her parents had left her. She had raised Sunny from an infant, and knew it was not the same as having her own child, but still. She knew she couldn't have children with Klaus, anyway, and who else would she want to be the father of her babies? She just hadn't ever taken into consideration that Klaus might want children of his own one day. He would be an amazing father. He was wonderful with Sunny, but for more than one reason, Violet could never give him children.

Klaus laughed at her incredulous tone. "I take it that's a no?"

"I need to tell you something, and you might not like it." Violet hadn't expected this conversation, and it made her feel nauseated. She was more afraid, all of the sudden, that she was about to derail all the progress that she had made with Klaus.

His eyebrows were scrunched together, although he otherwise tried to keep his face free of emotion. "I'm listening." He switched the windshield wipers to a lower setting as the rain let up a little.

"I…I don't want children, Klaus," she paused. "I can't have children. I had a surgery… to get my tubes tied."

"You didn't tell me." It wasn't a question.

"I didn't tell anybody." Who else would she tell, except maybe Sunny, who wouldn't understand. There was a long silence between them as Klaus digested this information.

"Do you want children?" she asked carefully, a little afraid he might be really angry with her.

He just shook his head. "No."

"You would be an amazing father."

"No."

"Are you angry with me?"

"No, of course not," he said. "Why would you think that? It's…it just make me so sad, that you had to go through that alone. That was a big decision."

"It was okay. I was okay," she said, although she remembered crying all the way up until they gave her the medication to knock her out. She felt better about her decision after the surgery was over, didn't regret it, but the time leading up until the surgery had been fairly miserable.

"I know you weren't okay, Violet. I made the same decision and I know what I felt."

"What do you mean?" she asked, dreading his answer.

"I…I also had a surgery. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you'd try to talk me out of it."

"Yes, you're right!" she was such a hypocrite, but she was pretty angry with him for doing that to himself. "You're so young. You might want kids someday. What if you find someone that wants to have babies with you?"

"Do you hear yourself?" Klaus laughed at her. "I'm with you right now, telling you I want to spend the rest of my life with _you_, and babies are never going to be an option for us, okay? It is what it is."

Oh. Things became a little clearer for Violet. He had always planned on ending up with her. "So, you did it for me?" she asked, tears leaking into her eyes.

"Yes, but…it's silly, right? You did it, I did it. Only one of us needed to do it." He rolled his eyes at the situation. Violet leaned over the console to squeeze Klaus around the neck. He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and she couldn't take the kindness, bursting into tears, crying into his shoulder. "You know I love you, right? I always knew it was going to be you, and you knew it was going to be me," he told her, kissing her temple. "Decision made."

It was a long ride to Montana, mostly in silence, interspersed with naps, discussions, fill ups at the gas station, potty breaks and snacks. Violet couldn't believe that just this morning they had survived a tornado. Scrolling through the pictures they had taken at Mount Rushmore, she found one that was snapped at just the precise moment that lightning struck in the background. She showed it to her brother. "That's definitely the one we'll show everybody. That is cool!" he exclaimed.

They pulled into a much nicer hotel than the One Stop, but not quite as nice as the Palmer House. For the first time, Klaus ordered them a king size room, which made Violet break out in goosebumps for some reason, and then she got the giggles in the elevator.

"You are exhausted," Klaus teased her. "You need to go straight to bed and sleep all night and not wake up until 10 am."

"I'm taking a shower. I feel gross. My hair is definitely gross," she complained.

"You are not gross."

The room was a room. Nothing special, but the only thing that mattered to Violet was the little shampoo bottle and some hot water. She threw her suitcase onto the couch, sussed out a tee shirt and some undies, and her toiletry bag and headed straight for the bathroom. She let the shower get hot while she brushed her teeth, then stripped, stepping into the warm stream of water. She shaved her legs and pits, washed and conditioned her hair, taking her sweet time, just letting the water fall on her aching shoulders and neck.

Even with her eyes closed and her head under the water, she knew that Klaus was there. A cool rush of air entered the shower with him, and his hands were cool on her waist. She felt his solid presence at her back and the soft whisper of his breath on her shoulder. "Were you going to save me any hot water?" he asked, with his lips on her neck.

"I hadn't planned on sharing, no," she teased.

He wrapped his arms around her middle, picked her up, and maneuvered her out of the stream and stepped in himself, Violet protesting loudly, but he ignored her and began washing his hair. She tried to push him out of the way, but he held his ground and only laughed at her efforts. "Just a minute, you shower hog," he said, soaping up quickly and rinsing off. When he was only minimally less soapy, he pulled her into his arms, to let the water fall over them both. She rested her head on his chest, where the soft brown hairs were made into swirls by rivulets of water cascading down his body. She let her fingertips play idly with the patterns in his chest hair, and one arm reached around his back to rest on his buttocks.

"I can hear your heart beating," she told him. He pulled his fingers repeatedly through her long hair.

"Hmmm," she heard as a rumble in his chest. He ducked down to softly kiss her lips, meeting her tongue gently, and he moved both hands to her bottom to squeeze and pull her close to him. Sliding his hands up her slick waist and over her ribs, he cupped her breasts, and squeezed them gently also. "You are a lot curvier than I remember, Violet. Your body is so sexy, so grown up."

She chuckled, barely breaking the kiss, because she liked what he was doing to her. "Is that your nice way of saying that I've gained weight?"

"I always worried you were too skinny. Now look at you. You are so beautiful," he said so sincerely, and it made Violet want to give him the world.

"Want to meet me on the bed in about ten minutes?" she asked. He looked like he would rather her not leave, but nodded. She stepped out of the shower and let him have a minute to finish up while she brushed and dried her hair, put deodorant on and lotion. She watched him dry off as she blow-dried her hair, but neither of them bothered to put on any of the clothes they had brought with them into the bathroom.

Klaus was the first one in and had crawled in all the way to the middle of the large bed. He was propped on his elbow, facing her as she came out of the bathroom, turning off lights as she went. "I didn't know where we were meeting on the bed, so I assumed the middle?" he teased. She scooted across the bed to pull her body flush with his, the white sheets draping over them, the unfamiliar mattress and pillows cool on their skin.

"This…this right here is what I've always wanted for us," she said, wrapping an arm around his back, kissing him quick. "Just time and leisure and dare I say it?" She lowered her voice and whispered, "Fun."

"I don't think I'm familiar with this word. Fun, you say?" he teased and tickled her ribs at the same time, making her squirm. "I'm offended, actually. Are you saying that I am usually no fun? How rude." He huffed and turned over to face away from her in the bed, pulling most of the covers with him.

"Klaus!" Violet squealed, pulling some of the sheet back over her, then scooting her body close to his back, wrapping her arm around him again. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to break it to you, but no, you are no fun." She gave him tiny kisses on the back of the neck, that led to tiny bites on his shoulder. She could feel the goosebumps on the skin of his belly while she played with the soft hair that led from his belly button to pool at the base of his penis. Before she could touch him, though, he had turned back to face her, kissing her mouth, pushing his hands through her soft, clean hair and down her spine.

"I'll make you rue the day that you called me no fun," he murmured against her lips. She huffed out a light laugh, that turned into a small moan as he sucked on her neck. He took his time, working his way down her shoulder to her breast, leaving a trail of love bites all the way. He lifted her leg to wrap around his hip so he could easily reach all of her pink spots, pressing his fingers in and out, slowly swirling them over the slick, satiny skin between her legs.

He returned to her mouth, still taking his time, kissing her deep and sweet, a low hum of enjoyment issuing from his throat. He was pulling her to the edge of her pleasure and she couldn't do anything but hold fast to him, eyes closed tight and mouth opened in concentration. Klaus took his fingers away, and Violet gave a low disappointed exhale, but let him roll her onto her back, her leg still wrapped around his waist, opening her up for him. He slid right into her tight center with slow, long strokes.

"Oh, Klaus…" she encouraged, "that's good." Now that she was on her back she had both hands free to hold him, to caress his shoulders down his spine to squeeze his bottom, holding his pelvis to hers when it felt particularly good. She planted her feet on the bed, knees bent and legs spread wide for her lover, and bucked her hips in time with his slow thrusts.

Violet kissed along his shoulder and neck, gently sucking and biting, until he turned his mouth to hers again. He curled his forearms under her, cradling her neck, holding her shoulders. His body slid heavily over hers. Her thighs tightened, started to close in on his body automatically, as she felt her climax coming. She turned her face to the side to gasp for breath, and he pressed his face into her cheek, his warm breaths puffing out over her neck in quick succession, responding to the way her body tensed around him with his own orgasm.

The pair had been unusually quiet in their lovemaking, and it seemed wrong to break the silence now. Klaus kissed her along her cheekbone and her eyebrow, calming them both. Rolling them over so he was underneath her, Violet nestled her face in his neck, and he drew shapes over her back, making her skin jump whenever he passed over a particularly ticklish spot. Violet's breathing evened out rather quickly, her body becoming heavy on his as she fell asleep. Klaus didn't mind the weight of her. It grounded him, reminded him that he was what Violet wanted and it was okay. It reminded him that it was okay to be still and to be content, to enjoy the peace that was here and now. With these last thoughts, he followed Violet into comfortable slumber.


	5. Bozeman to Seattle…and Back Again

"Map out your future- but do it in pencil." Jon Bon Jovi

**Bozeman to Seattle…and Back Again**

Violet woke up feeling heavy and warm, encased tight in Klaus's arms under a heap of covers, her forehead pressed into his chin. She was definitely comfortable, except for her bladder, which was calling to be emptied. Morning light shone in through the crack in the curtains, and she wondered how long she had slept. She never was able to sleep in, even when she wanted to, so was surprised to see the digital clock on the nightstand read after 8 am.

She started the process of extricating herself from the tangle of covers and arms by giving Klaus a quick kiss, causing him to groan and roll away, not ready to wake up, yet. She made a beeline for the toilet, and got the shivers when her bare feet hit the cold tile of the bathroom.

Klaus took his time waking up, watching Violet pull clothes from her suitcase and begin to get dressed. "Violet, have you looked in the mirror yet this morning?"

"Not really, why?" she asked, heading back into the bathroom to look at herself. A trail of love bite bruises traversed all the way down her neck and into her shirt. She pulled the collar of her tee shirt down to see the rest of it disappearing into her bra. "Jesus, Klaus," she called from the bathroom. "It looks like you tried to strangle me." She finished her morning routine of brushing her teeth and hair, trying to style it so it would cover up the evidence of their love making.

Still Klaus laid in the bed. "Get up, Lazy Bones," she goaded him, pulling the covers off him. He made a grab for her, trying to pull her back into bed, but she dodged him, laughing, but also giving him the evil eye. "We still have almost ten hours of driving today. Get up so we can get some breakfast and some coffee, okay?"

Klaus covered his face with his hands, groaning, then scrubbing his palms up and down his cheeks, trying to motivate himself to get out of bed. "Now, who's no fun?" he muttered under his breath.

"I heard that," she said. With all of her stuff packed and ready to go, she sat down on the small arm chair the hotel provided and took her turn to watch him, supervising his progress. He was tall and thin, but not without muscle. He had to have some muscle, carrying around all of the books that he did. His dark curls were mussed from sleep, but his hair tapered to a neat trim around his neck. He was very fair skinned, so the love bites she had left across his neck and shoulder stood out like a beacon against his pale skin, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw them. He hefted his suitcase onto the bed and pulled out his clothes for the day. "You are quite beautiful, Klaus."

He lifted his head to look at her, one eyebrow raised. "Thanks?" he said it like it was a question. She felt overcome by his gentle presence all of the sudden and crossed the room to embrace him, pressing her cheek into his bare breastbone.

"I am so lucky to have you." She turned her face and kissed the center of his chest, then looked up at him. "I love you."

He gave her several soft kisses and stroked her hair. "I love you."

She gave him another kiss, then sat on the bed. "Okay, hurry up! Let's go." He rolled his eyes, but smiled at her impatience. He didn't dress in front of her, but took his clothes into the bathroom. That was fine. Violet checked her emails and sent Sunny a few texts including the crazy pic of the lightning. Sunny wouldn't be able to check her phone during school hours, but maybe they could hear back from her in a little while. Hopefully they would still have cell service if Sunny tried to text back.

She heard Klaus give a short snort of laughter from the bathroom and she guessed he had seen his own hickeys. Violet's cell phone gave a text message alert. Sunny wrote, "Hey! I'm glad u r having fun. Miss u!"

"You don't have class today?" Violet wrote back. "I didn't expect to hear back from you so soon."

"I'm sick. Nurse thinks I have the stomach flu. I have to stay in my room today."

"Do you have a fever?" asked Violet. "Symptoms?"

"100.8, nausea and diarrhea."

"Did the nurse give you any medicine?"

"Pepto Bismol, yuck, and Advil."

"Poor baby! I'm so sorry you feel bad. Keep me posted on how you're feeling, okay? I love you so much!"

"Love you. Give Klaus a kiss from me. Don't worry about me. Have fun!"

Klaus came out of the bathroom, his hair damp and curling. He must have combed through it with water to get rid of his bedhead. He matched Violet in his tee shirt and jeans. It was nice to see him so casual. "Hey, was that Sunny?"

"Yeah. She says she's got the stomach flu," Violet said, worry tinting her tone.

"Did they take her to the doctor?" Klaus asked as he packed his toiletries into his duffel bag.

"She said she talked with the nurse. I told her to let us know if she starts to feel worse." Klaus nodded. Violet stood up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's from Sunny." Then she gave him a lingering one on his lips. "That's from me."

He encircled her back with his arms, searching out her lips to deepen the kiss, trying to make her forget her mission to leave their comfy room and coax her back to bed. It almost worked. Pretty soon she had her arms around his neck, running her fingers through his damp hair, making the curls stand on end again, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs, losing herself in his kiss. His hands were inside her shirt, slowly inching up her waist and belly, and Violet was anticipating feeling his hands up under her bra, when her phone signaled another text. She stepped slightly back to reach for the phone in her back pocket, reading the text from Sunny.

"Nurse checked my temp. Down to 99," the screen read.

"That's good. Just rest and drink lots of water. Klaus says hi," she typed back. "Her fever is coming down," she said to her brother. "Come on. Let's go."

"But…"

"Breakfast! Coffee!" she demanded.

They ate at the hotel breakfast buffet and loaded the car, taking their coffees to go in heavy paper cups. They took turns driving for the next five hours, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks along the way. Klaus's stomach was growling loudly when they finally stopped for lunch in Spokane, Washington. "You are a machine, Violet," he complained about her singleminded driving destinations. "I'm so hungry. Can we please find somewhere good to eat? No gas stations or fast food."

"What would you like?" she was nothing, if not accommodating.

"Pizza."

"Well, check your phone and see what you can find close by."

A few minutes later Klaus had settled on a restaurant only a few blocks from Interstate 90, which they had been traveling on for days. "What do you think of square pizza?"

"I like to think I have an open mind," she answered the strange question with a chuckle. Violet followed her brother's directions to a small brick building in another historic area. The inside was dated, but cleanish, and smelled heavenly, of garlic and baking bread. Violet's stomach began to growl, too.

They were seated in an old green vinyl booth that had been repaired several times with shiny silver duct tape. Klaus ordered a coke and Violet ordered iced tea. "Order whatever you want on the pizza," she instructed him, while he perused the menu. "I'll eat anything. You know that."

She pulled out her phone and texted Sunny. "You feeling better?"

She received an incoming text almost immediately. "I've been trying to sleep, but my stomach is really hurting."

"Have you told the nurse? Maybe you should go to the doctor?" Violet answered her.

"I told her. She said if I'm still feeling bad in the morning she'll take me to the doctor. She's sure it's just a stomach virus. It's been going around."

"I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something to help. Let me know if you feel worse, ok?"

"Don't worry, Vi. I'll be fine. You be safe and HAVE FUN!" Why was her sister so sweet? Worried about her when Sunny was the one who needed worry.

Violet texted a few heart emojis and set her phone down. Klaus had also lain down his menu and looked at her with raised eyebrows. "She's still not feeling good. The nurse said she would take Sunny to the doctor in the morning, and that a stomach virus has been going around."

"People always say that when someone they know gets a stomach virus," Klaus said and Violet agreed.

"I feel so helpless. There's not much I can do for her from two thousand miles away, is there?" she asked, putting her hands in the air.

"Even if you were at home, they wouldn't expect you to come get her for this?" he tried to comfort. "They'll take care of her. Hopefully, it's just a 24 hour bug." He laughed a little, reminiscing. "Do you remember when she was six, and she crawled into bed with us, laid right in-between us and proceeded to throw up all over the bed?"

"Ug, it was awful. I almost threw up, too. It was everywhere and I felt so bad afterward, because she thought we were mad at her."

"To be honest, I was a little mad at her. Why couldn't she do that in the toilet like a normal person?" Klaus laughed again at the memory. "We had to shower, give her a bath, and change the sheets, all in the middle of the night."

"That's what good parents do… and we were good parents to Sunny." Violet looked sad all of the sudden. "We've done our best. We're still doing our best, huh?"

"Sunny's great! We've done our part, but she's wonderful all on her own," Klaus said, without a hint of doubt.

He ordered breadsticks, salads for both of them, because honestly, they couldn't remember the last time they had eaten a vegetable on this trip, and a pepperoni pizza with black olives. The waitress came to refill their drinks, and the food was decent. The pizza was good and hot and they were almost able to finish the whole, square pie. "Is it still pie if it's square?" Violet asked and Klaus only shrugged. He took the last two pieces to eat in the car.

Violet had just buckled into the driver's seat when Klaus leaned over the console. "Come here, there's something on your face." Violet leaned so he could reach her. He wiped his thumb gently down her cheek and kissed her. "I've been wanting to do that all day."

"You don't have to wait. You can kiss me anytime you want," she smiled and reversed out of the parking spot.

"Where are we staying tonight? I don't think I can wait much longer to have you, Violet." He said it so plainly that it gave Violet the shivers. It is a powerful thing to be wanted, and it made her chest constrict a little and her nipples harden.

She laughed a little shakily, "It's another four hours until we get to Seattle."

"Hmmm." He let his hand hang over the middle console to squeeze her thigh. "That's a long time." Violet silently agreed.

Soon, though, Klaus was sleeping and they were driving in the middle of nowhere, not that the scenery wasn't absolutely beautiful. Violet could see the mountains not too far off and knew they would be passing over them in another hour or so. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and contrasted nicely with the large evergreens that grew in Washington.

Violet checked her phone for news from Sunny, but the signal out here was not very good. It was getting close to bedtime on the East Coast anyway. She kept her fingers crossed that her sister would feel better in the morning. She snapped a picture of Klaus sleeping with his mouth open to send to Sunny in the morning.

When he woke up again they were already passing though the mountains and the sun cast strange shadows through the trees and rocks as they drove along the curvy road. "You've driven a long way, Violet. I'm sorry I slept so long."

"It's okay. The drive has been really beautiful and it's a really good day to drive by Mount Rainier. I'm hoping we can see it soon. The sky is so clear," she answered. "Keep your eyes peeled to the south."

They didn't actually catch a glimpse of Mount Rainer for another twenty minutes. "There!" Violet exclaimed. "I see it," as she pointed out her window. Another couple of miles down the highway she noticed a circular pull off with a sign that read Mount Rainier Viewing Area. She made an impulse decision to turn in there. Several other cars were parked, but nobody else was in sight.

Klaus stretched his whole body upwards when he got out of the car. It had been a long time since their last stop and it felt really good to stretch their legs. They held hands as they walked to the edge of the concrete, the edge of the mountain, and peered far off into the distance. "Wow," was all Klaus could say. It was a beautiful sight, snow capped and absolutely huge, to be seen so clearly from this distance. They posed for several selfies with the mountain in the background, but no phone picture could do it justice. On the last selfie, Violet reached up quickly and kissed Klaus's cheek for the picture. He chuckled as he looked at the photo, and it was a sweet one with the sun shining off their dark hair and they were both smiling, genuinely happy, his arm around his sister.

He looked surreptitiously around, but still saw no one, so Klaus drew Violet into his embrace and kissed her long and hard. "You are testing my patience, little girl," he murmured into her ear. "I want you, Violet." She felt immediately on fire at his words, at his mouth on her lips, on her skin.

"Yes, Klaus," was all she could say, wanting whatever he had in mind, and she was ashamed to know she had no self control at all. He pulled her by the hand to the patch of woods that edged the small parking lot. The trees were tall, without much undergrowth to speak of, but he led her deep into the trees until he found several growing thick together, creating a shield between them and the world. From there they couldn't even see the parking lot, only more trees and patches of the sky above. He descended on her mouth again, but quickly had his hands exploring under her shirt, unfastening her bra so that it hung loose on her shoulders, giving him plenty of access to cup and palm her breasts. Her head lolled to the side, and he followed the trail of previous love bites, not sucking, only kissing down the column of her neck. He backed her into the crook of two tree trunks, pressing his body into hers.

Violet pushed at his hips to give herself room to unbutton his jeans, curling her fingers in the belt loops to tug them down his hips. She stroked him through his boxers, and found herself very turned on by how turned on he was. "Exhibitionist!" she accused with a quiet laugh.

He pulled her jeans and panties all the way down to her ankles, making her gasp, and then moan when he rubbed his fingers through her slit, finding her sensitive nub and circling it. "That's a little like the pot calling the kettle black, hm?" he answered. She toed out of her shoes, stepped out of her pants and leaned back against the tree, anticipating what was coming. With his other hand he pulled himself out of his boxers, and leaning into her, replaced his fingers with his erection, pushing it up and down her slick folds, teasing her.

Violet felt a familiar sense of urgency, the one that had accompanied their couplings in the past. She needed him, right now, no more waiting. "Now, Klaus. I want you," she said, looking up at him, and she wondered if his face mirrored hers, because she saw desire there, his eyes dark with it. He pushed his erection into her opening as far as it would go at this angle, holding himself in there by leaning heavily against her still, pumping shallowly. He had to duck his head down to kiss her, and he cradled her face for a moment, and she could already hear small hums of arousal coming from his mouth as he slanted it over hers, pushing his tongue in to taste hers.

Sliding his hands down her neck, then quickly up her shirt to feel her skin and breasts again, and finally he wrapped his hands around her bottom and her thighs, to lift her up, pressing her body tightly between his torso and the rough tree trunks, driving his hips, pushing in and out, deep and quick.

Violet wasn't quiet, and couldn't be bothered to care if she could be heard from the parking lot. From the very first thrust, she was gasping incomprehensible sounds that drove Klaus to go even faster. His fingers were pressed hard into the backs of her thighs, possibly leaving small bruises, and the trees were rough, even through her tee shirt, but the small pain made the pleasure all the greater. She couldn't kiss him anymore, could only lay her head back in the crook of the two trees, her hair catching on bits of bark. He had her pinned securely and he had never dropped her, so she was free to roam her hands over his shoulders and back, to squeeze his bottom.

Only a few minutes later and he was asking her, "Come on, Violet… Come on. God, are you close? You feel too good, it feels too good." His voice was low and husky, out of breath. "I…Fuck, I'm coming." His rhythm became erratic, his chest heaving against her cheek as he pressed her even tighter to the tree. "Oh God, that's so good!" he said, louder than he probably should have. She had felt his warm burst of semen, how he pulsed inside of her, and she was still so aroused she thought she might cry.

He held her just a moment longer before letting her legs down, which consequently pushed him out of her warmth. He kissed along her jaw and down her neck as he put himself back together, zipping up his jeans, dropping to his knees in front of her. She knew what was coming, but had to look away, had to close her eyes. As familiar as she knew Klaus was with her body, his mouth between her legs had always embarrassed her a little.

"Spread your legs for me, Violet," he encouraged by nudging the backs of her thighs, rubbing his palms up to her bottom, then back down, and she willingly complied. She was too conscious of the cool mountain breeze on her naked skin, and of Klaus's semen running down her thigh, but when he nudged her sweet spot with his nose, spread her lips with his fingers, and begin licking and sucking, dipping his fingers into her very damp vagina, she forgot all of that, forgot everything. She didn't know what to do with her hands so she carded her fingers through his hair and idly played with the rims of his ears. His mouth sent flutters of electric shock through her core.

Her legs trembled and she tried to push herself harder into the tree for balance, leaning her head back and looking up to the darkening blue sky. It was a dizzying sensation watching the tops of the trees blowing in the breeze and feeling Klaus doing sinful things between her legs. She looked down at him and caught him looking up at her. A small huff of wonder escaped her lips. It seemed impossible that just last week she had been yearning with all of her soul to be with Klaus again, and now here she was in the woods, on the side of a mountain, in Washington state, with him and his promise to stay with her. All along he had just been waiting for her to ask him to stay. It couldn't be real, it was too good to be real, too easy, and she felt so unbalanced all of a sudden, emotional, that she closed her eyes and turned her head up to the sky again, but tears began to fall anyway. She was close now, he was good at this, and she wanted it so much, but simultaneously never wanted it to end. Then she was coming, legs trembling hard, hands shaking as she tried to hold him still, head thrown back against the tree, and a silly sob escaped her mouth. She had no idea why she felt so emotional all of the sudden.

With the absence of his mouth, she felt shivery and weak, but he was there, holding her tight, stroking her hair as she cried into his chest. "Shh, it's okay. Are you okay?" he whispered to her temple.

She shook her head, "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm being silly," she said, trying to calm herself. "I…I just feel so overwhelmed. I want you so much and I…"she tried to explain as she hiccuped, " I love you so much." She held him so, so tight, as if she could bodily pull him into her own. "It scares me. I can't lose you again. I'm so sorry."

He ducked down, made her look at him, rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks, kissed her lips with full chaste kisses, over and over again. "I'm the one who's sorry. I'm sorry, Violet, and I can never say it enough to erase what we've endured, but I'm promising you now that you're stuck with me, for better or worse, okay? I'm not leaving you again, I swear. For as long as you want me, I'm yours. I love you. I mean it. You'll just have to trust me."

Violet nodded, but didn't trust herself to speak. The sky was turning a navy blue, the sun disappearing behind the mountain. "You are a mess." Klaus stepped back slightly and looked down at her legs, where a mix of saliva and semen dripped down. "Do you want my shirt to clean up with?"

"No, of course not…" but he had already pulled it up over his head and was handing it to her. She was grateful. Wiping up quickly, she slipped back into her undies and pants, realized she still had her socks on, then reached down to tie her shoes.

They gave each other a long look with tender smiles, before Klaus peered around the trees toward the parking lot. "I think the coast is clear," he said, grabbing her hand and leading her back to the car, which was all alone now in the tiny parking area. He led her to the passenger seat, opened the door for her, and reached in to peck her lips. "You need to rest. I can tell you're exhausted." Violet agreed.

She grabbed his neck when he tried to stand, holding him there a second longer. "I trust you," she said shakily, earning her a glorious smile and another kiss.

It was still almost two hours to Seattle, and the sun set quickly, leaving the curving mountain road very dark, indeed. Violet leaned against the middle console, practically laying over it, and fell asleep immediately. When she woke again, they were on a well lit interstate, the beginnings of civilization looming up on either side of the road.

"Are we in Seattle?" she asked, voice hoarse, and she had to clear her throat with sips from her water bottle.

"Almost."

Violet's phone gave a text message alert, then another one, followed by another one. At least ten alerts in all, some of them phone message alerts. "Must be back under cell service," Violet said. She was digging her phone out of her back pocket when Klaus's phone began to ring in the same manner.

"Oh no," she put her hand to her mouth, scanning quickly through the text messages. "It's Sunny. She says she was feeling worse. God, this was over two hours ago."

Meanwhile, Klaus punched in the code for his voicemails and listened intently. "Violet, it's the dean. She says she's with Sunny at the hospital. Her roommate said she passed out so they took her to the emergency room. Says she'll keep us updated. Hold on, let me listen to the next one."

Violet felt like the call was excruciatingly long as she yearned to know what was going on. "That was the dean again, Sunny has a ruptured appendix and they can't wait for our go ahead any longer. They are taking her to surgery. Why the hell would they wait?"

Violet was shocked. She never dreamed Sunny was that sick. She should've called her, instead of relying on texts to communicate. "Okay, the next call is from the doctor. He says the X-ray shows the ruptured appendix. He explains the operation and says it is a common procedure, but that they worry about infection." Violet listened to her messages next, and they were basically the same as Klaus's. It looked like the school and hospital had been trying to reach them for hours.

"I'm sorry, Violet, but we need to head to the airport." Violet only nodded her head, already typing in her phone for the GPS. "We'll park in long term parking and come back for the car later."

Klaus called the dean as he navigated the highway through the city. Violet listened to the one sided call intently. "Yes, hi. This is Klaus Baudelaire. Violet and I are just receiving all of your messages. We're out on the West Coast….Yes. Have they taken Sunny for her surgery?….Oh, okay…okay. We'll fly back tonight if we can get a flight. We're on our way to the airport now. Hopefully we'll hear something from you or the doctor before we leave, if not, we're hoping to be there before morning…Yes…Right, okay. Violet and I can't thank you enough for being there with her now…Yes, Thank you. Goodbye."

They were seeing signs for the airport now along the road. Violet felt like her heart would beat out of her chest and that she had a serious case of ants in her pants. "Well?" she asked impatiently.

"She's only been in surgery for half an hour, but that means she's probably almost done. The dean repeated the information that the doctor had given. They're doing a laparoscopic surgery, so she'll have several small incisions to get rid of the appendix and wash out the infection, then she'll have a drain for a few days after that. Her fever was up to 103.7 when she got to the hospital," and he had to grab Violet's hand to reassure himself.

"We should've been there," Violet said.

Klaus kissed her hand. "It's not your fault. It's just something that's happened. A terrible thing, but you couldn't have prevented it by being there. We'll be with her just as soon as we can."

"But she was all alone," Violet cried, feeling sick to her stomach.

"She's strong…" Klaus started.

"And brave," Violet finished for him.

They parked the car as quickly as they could and waited impatiently with their suitcases for the shuttle to carry them to departures. Violet was on her phone, trying to see what flights were available, but it didn't look good. It would be a miracle to get on a non-stop flight this late in the day.

Standing at the American Airlines desk in a line of people, Violet thought she might literally go insane with impatience and worry. They got out their driver's licenses and Klaus got out his credit card. "We're looking for a flight to Raleigh, please, as soon as possible," Klaus asked the uniformed lady when it her their turn.

"There is one leaving in an hour with a stop in Charlotte, but it's full. I can put you on standby?" She looked at them expectantly.

"And if we don't make it onto that one?" he asked.

"You'll automatically be placed onto the next one. You'll just have to visit the American Airlines Customer Service Desk to check in."

"When is the next flight that isn't full?" Violet asked.

"There is a non-stop at 7:35 am, tomorrow."

Violet and Klaus shared a long look. "Okay, we'll try for standby, then," Klaus decided.

The lady took their driver's licenses and credit card, printed them each out a booklet, but stamped it in red ink, STANDBY. Violet internally groaned at the prospect. She took their luggage and placed it on the conveyor belt behind her.

"Hurry, tell them at security that your plane is leaving soon, and see if they'll let you through the line," the American Airlines lady suggested.

The line wasn't very long as security, so they waited. Taking off their shoes, they piled their belongings into a plastic bin and walked through the large X-ray machines. They alternated between walking and jogging down the long concourse, looking for their gate. Klaus quickly headed for the counter to get them checked in. There was line of people already boarding the plane and Violet had a sinking feeling in her gut.

"Okay," Klaus told her. "They'll board and then see what's left. There's another person on standby before us." It took another twenty minutes to call for the last section of people to board.

Klaus was biting his nails when their names were called over the intercom. "Will Thomas Burrell, Klaus Baudelaire and Violet Baudelaire please come to Gate 26?" They bounced up out of their chairs like Jack in the Boxes. When all three were assembled at the desk, the attendant asked them to step into the doorway of the gangway. Violet couldn't believe their luck. They were going to make it on. "Please wait right here while we double check the seats, please."

Three minutes later the attendant got a call on her little walkie talkie. "Mr. Burrell, you may go ahead in to 15B." The man nodded and walked quickly around the corner and onto the plane. "Looks like there's only one more seat. Would you like to wait for the next flight?" she addressed them. "I can go ahead and get you checked in from here."

Violet and Klaus shared another long look. It was an easy decision and they were pretty good at knowing the other. It would be better for Klaus to go first. He was level headed in any emergency situation, and had the knowledge to deal with new information, and understood all the ins and outs of insurance and hospital paperwork. He would take care of Sunny just as carefully as Violet, no doubt. Klaus embraced her quickly and nodded against her forehead. "No, I'll take the seat, please," he said to the attendant, who looked surprised.

"Okay, you'll be in 23B. Quickly now. Miss, you'll have to step out of the gangway."

Grabbing Violet's hand and giving it a quick squeeze, he kissed her lips, something he had never done in front of anybody before. "At least try to text me when you're coming and I'll get it when I'm back on the ground."

"I'll be right behind you," she tried to reassure him. As he walked away, she called, "You have the insurance cards, right?"

"Yes. I'll see you in a few hours. Be safe!" Then he turned the corner and was gone.

Violet was put on standby for the next flight, but it was totally full. She had to wait until the morning flight, which at least was non-stop, but would still take almost five hours to get home. She slept fitfully in the waiting area, and time slowed until it had apparently stopped. Klaus texted her around 1am when he arrived in Charlotte. Violet had gotten a call from the doctor, saying that Sunny had done well in surgery and what room they were taking her to. She felt a mixture of relief and guilt. She wished she could be there for Sunny, who would need help and comfort, but Klaus would be there soon. Violet texted him back Sunny's hospital room number.

Two hours later, Klaus texted her, "Landed in Raleigh. I'm going to rent a car, so when you get here just take an Uber to the hospital."

"Ok," she texted him back. "Give Sunny a kiss from me!" With the time change she wouldn't get there until late afternoon.

Before her plane finally took off, right before she turned her phone to airplane mode, a text came in from Klaus. "Sunny says hi." Violet let out a sob of relief, much to her seat partner's distress. "By the way, your suitcase came off baggage claim with mine. I have it."

"My flight is leaving now. See you this afternoon. Take care of our girl. Thank you." She pressed send, then typed, "Love you," pressing send again. The flight was interminably long and even though Violet knew Sunny was recovering she could not rest or relax. She also felt, selfishly she knew, that she missed Klaus so much already. He was an easy presence to have around, simultaneously serious and light-hearted, his mood remaining even keeled, and Violet had always appreciated that about him, and she wished with all her heart that she could be with him and Sunny right now.

It was quite late in the afternoon, eastern time, when Violet finally arrived at the hospital. She had called Klaus upon arrival but he didn't pick up. They made her go through security and get a name badge before she could finally take the elevator up to the post-op floor. She knocked on the door softly, before entering, and was surprised to see that the room was completely empty. Disappointment flooded through her. "What?"

She stopped at the nurse's desk for news. A young nurse, younger than Violet even, was sitting behind the counter. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I hope so. I'm Violet Baudelaire. I'm looking for Sunny, who was supposed to be in room 3212?"

"Oh goodness, yes. We've been expecting you." The nurse stood quickly, coming around the desk, explaining. "I'm sorry, but Sunny has taken a turn for the worse this afternoon, and Dr. Fleet decided to take her back in to surgery, to make sure all of the infected tissue has been removed. I'll take you to your husband, now. He's in the surgical waiting room." She started to walk down the hall and Violet followed closely at her heels.

Klaus's relief when Violet entered the waiting room was palpable. He stood and gathered Violet into his arms, burying his face in her neck. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here."

She took a moment to rub his back, giving comfort and receiving it in return. "What's happened?" she asked gently.

"Sunny's fever never did go down, even with the IV antibiotics, and she was still having a lot of pain. God, I've never seen her so pale," he sat back down in his uncomfortable chair and pulled Violet down by the arm to sit next to him, never letting go of her hand. "I had the nurses call the doctor. I just knew she shouldn't still be so sick. He thinks he couldn't see all of the infected tissue with the laparoscopy, that he should've done a traditional incision with the ruptured appendix. Poor Sunny. She wanted to see you all day. I think she was disappointed it was me that came first."

"No, Klaus. I'm so glad you were here. You might have saved her life. Sometimes a little girl just wants a mother when she's not feeling well," Violet explained, and Klaus gave her such a sad smile, and she realized he was thinking of their own motherless childhood. She cleared her throat. "How long has she been in surgery?"

"Almost an hour, I guess. Hopefully she'll be done soon. They'll take her to recovery for a little while, then we can visit with her back in the room." He took off his glasses, and rubbed at his bloodshot eyes.

"You must be as tired as I am, Klaus. How are you holding up?" He only nodded.

"I guess we missed the funeral, huh?"

She made a dismissive gesture with her hand, and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess so. Doesn't matter. I got what I went for," she said.

"You did? How?" he asked, confused.

"The only thing I really wanted was you, silly." She bumped his shoulder with hers.

He stared at her with a small smile playing on his lips. "You are amazing, you know that? Have I told you that I'm so glad you're here?"

"You might have mentioned it."

"Have I told you how much I love you?" he asked.

"Yes, you might have mentioned that, too, but a girl doesn't get tired of hearing it." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pressing his forehead into her temple, pressing his lips into her cheek for a good long time.

Klaus's attention was diverted by a tall, thin man that could only be the doctor, coming into the waiting room. "Mr. Baudelaire?"

Klaus stood, "Yes? How did it go?"

"Is this your wife?" the doctor asked.

Smiling bemusedly, Klaus just introduced her. "This is Violet Baudelaire. Violet, this is Dr. Fleet, Sunny's surgeon."

"Well, good to meet you," and he shook Violet's hand, and his relaxed manner put her at ease. How could anyone give bad news when they were so laidback? "I do apologize for this setback with your daughter. Once I made the larger incision it was easy to see what I had missed with the camera. We flushed the area several times and put the drain back in. I've closed the incision with staples. Her vitals were stable all through surgery, and I'm sure she'll be back to her old self in a few days. We'll keep her here of course for a least two days, with IV antibiotics, but she'll go home with the drain for a few days, before we remove it. We'll take the staples out at her followup appointment at my office in two weeks. Any questions?"

"No sir, at least not right now," Klaus answered for the both of them.

"Well, the nurses will keep you informed of her recovery. I'm off tomorrow, but my associate will be making rounds to check on Sunny. Nice to meet you both." He shook their hands again and left them alone in the room.

The reunion with Sunny was a sweet one. Violet was by her side as soon as they wheeled her into the room, kissing her awake. She was so groggy, and her face swollen from all of the fluids she had received in the last couple of days.

Sunny's voice was hoarse when she said, "Violet. There you are. I've been waiting for you."

"I'm here," and Violet was so relieved she began to cry. "I'm so sorry, sweet girl. I've missed you so much."

"Don't cry. I'm fine. Where's Klaus?" she asked, looking around stiffly.

Klaus stepped to the other side of the bed, rubbing her blond hair back from her forehead. "I'm here, too."

"Finally," she croaked. "I shouldn't have to be on my deathbed to get you two together." Anesthesia was obviously making her very honest. "You guys are so silly. We belong together."

"You're the silly one," Klaus laughed, rubbing his thumb across Sunny's cheek. "We were doing just fine before this little emergency. You better never do this again." He kissed her cheek, and she laughed a little, too.

Sunny was so groggy that she could barely keep her eyes open. Violet said, "Go back to sleep, Sunny. We'll still be here when you wake up, okay?"

"Promise?" she asked, her voice fading.

"Promise," said Klaus and Violet together.


	6. Epilogue

"I may not have gone where I intended to go,

but I think I have ended up where I intended to be." Douglas Adams

**Epilogue**

So, instead of spending Sunny's fall break in DC, the trio took a plane to Seattle to retrieve Violet's car. They wound up paying a small fortune to break the car out of the airport's long term parking garage, but spent the next week touring Seattle and driving down Highway 1 along the coast of Oregon and California. They saw the sea lions, and stopped in San Francisco to ride the trolley, although that brought back bad memories for the older two. They spent a single day at DisneyLand, then headed back to the East Coast via New Mexico, Texas, and Arkansas. Violet was ecstatic about all of the new states she was able to cross off her to-visit list.

These days, Klaus never spent a night away from Violet if he could help it. When Sunny was in school, they spent their days in DC, in Klaus's apartment while he worked at the library. His supervisors had been really pleased with all of the good work he had put into the Thomas Jefferson exhibit, so they were happy to let him work on any project, any time. They said he was brilliant, and Violet tended to agree. She had loved walking through the exhibit, knowing that Klaus had orchestrated it all, picking out some of the most interesting passages from the books that Jefferson had loved and tying them into different aspects of the president's life. It was even better that she had her own personal and enthusiastic tour guide as Klaus walked her through, sharing ideas and anecdotes the whole way. The pair even made a quick trip to Thomas Jefferson's house in Virginia, though it was too late in the year to truly appreciate the gardens and the grounds.

Violet loved her days in DC. There were too many museums and too little time. The whole city was beautiful and she explored it everyday while Klaus was at work, always winding up at the library for lunch time. They rarely drove anywhere when they stayed in DC. Everything was easily accessible by taking the train.

Klaus's apartment was a little one bedroom row house. It was clean and tidy with everything in it's place. On the walls were historic photographs that he had collected from around the city. His, well, their, bedroom was a good size, and they upgraded Klaus's full size bed to a larger one. The small balcony outside of the living room overlooked the Potomac and Klaus assured her that in the spring they would be able to see the cherry tree blossoms. Whenever Sunny would stay in DC, the couch opened to a bed for her, but usually the three of them would spend Sunny's days off at the house in Raleigh. There was just more room there, and it had been Sunny's home for many years now.

Staying at the house in Raleigh always made Klaus feel nostalgic. His time there as a young man had been a roller coaster of emotion. It was hard sometimes to reconcile those feelings to the easy, peaceful time they spent in the house now, time spent working in the yard, cooking meals, doing projects around the house, or just sitting on the porch swing, Violet's legs propped over his as they read books.

Their relationship was unorthodox, and they tried not to forget that, as they became comfortable again with having one another in their lives, experiencing a more mature relationship than they had back in Violet's early twenties. Not many people knew they were brother and sister, but having Sunny around did sometimes complicate things. It was hard to explain relationships whenever it came up, and avoidance was really the best answer to any of those questions.

Sunny had indeed been given the watered-down version of the story, though she assured them she had already known all along. Hadn't she grown up in the same house as them? They reminded her of the importance of secrecy, unfortunately feeling a little guilty about the necessity of it, but Sunny completely understood. "You know," Sunny teased. "I can call you Mom and Dad if that makes it easier."

"That's not necessary, Sunshine," Klaus had told her. "We don't want you to lie, just maybe not tell the whole truth, right?"

Best of all was the unrestricted time they had together, which had been Violet's wish all along. Life wasn't perfect. They had their arguments, because when you live with someone, you can't expect to get along every minute of every day, but they trusted each other to stay, no matter how hard it got, and so far it hadn't been that hard. It had been pretty wonderful, actually, if Violet had to choose one word to describe it. Once they were living together, Violet had thought that she would soon become immune to the sexual desire that she felt around her brother, but he continued daily to light a fire in her belly, and as the emotional love between them grew stronger, so did the physical need.

As they walked home from the train stop in their DC neighborhood, Klaus was hardly restraining himself, holding his arm around her waist, letting his hand brush low on her hip, or wrapping his fingers around the back of her neck, pushing them under her hair along her scalp, and when he was sure no one was looking, kissed her lips, innocently by any standards, but it felt anything but innocent to her. Violet could feel Klaus's anxious need for her rolling off of him in waves, but it only fanned the spark in her own body, until she was all alight with anticipation, and they could not get home soon enough for Violet's liking.

With the door finally closed and locked behind them, they wasted no more than a desperate minute undressing the other, and Violet knew that in Klaus's current mood, it would go better if she let him take full control. To her surprise, as soon as she was naked in his arms, he slowed down, taking his time, caressing her back, her shoulders, her belly, while he kissed her, murmuring naughty words against her lips. "All day I've been waiting for this, Violet. I had it in my mind that I was going to fuck you against this door as soon as we got home…" he paused as he plundered her mouth for a long moment, "but I've changed my mind." Violet whimpered. She was sort of hoping for some good, hard sex. Klaus chuckled. "Are you disappointed? I just want to take my time with you, Sweetheart." While he was talking, he had walked them over to the couch and he sat back on it, pulling her over his lap. He held himself for her, lining up with her, sliding into her easily as she began to rock up and down on her knees. She had her hands in her favorite place, running her fingers through his curls, placing open mouth kisses over his cheeks, his jaw and his lips.

Klaus was learning to appreciate this position. It left him plenty of leisure time to sit back and watch her make love to him, watch his own hands roam her body and see the effect his touch had on her. He liked seeing his penis disappear into her dark patch of pubic hair, or how he could squeeze her behind, pulling gently at her cheeks so he could run his fingers down her spine all the way into the cleft of her bottom, placing soft pressure there, earning him breathy gasps along his neck and sweet pulses around his erection.

All the way home, Violet had been turned on so she was already so close, and his hands were hurrying things along. "Klaus," she breathed. "You don't know what you do to me." Then she was crying out, "Oh God, yes!" with her head thrown back, still riding him, not slowing.

Klaus had her flipped on her back along the couch cushions in a second, pivoting his hips quickly between her spread thighs. "So much for taking our time. You are too sexy," he said it like an accusation. He held her bent knees to keep from bodily pushing her away as he thrust against her, letting one hand brush along an inner thigh to rub quick circles over her swollen nub, hoping she could come again before he was done. He slowed himself down, waiting for her, leaning over briefly to kiss her mouth, letting his tongue run over her ear lobe, sucking it in, then repeating the same procedure on her nipples, biting softly. It was all too good, and Violet's body had tensed so tightly, that when she came again, it was powerfully wrenched from her abdomen, currents of pleasure raced down her legs all the way to her toes.

Pushing hard again, Klaus called out his own approval. "God, yes! That's so good,Violet." He kept his hands on her breasts for his own pleasure, squeezing and palming them as he ejaculated, finding relief at last in Violet's sweet body.

She watched him, kneeling over her with his eyes closed, exhaling a long breath, letting the tension drain from his body, and she herself felt lazy and boneless. She could care less if she ever got up off the couch again. "Maybe we can just stay right here on the sofa forever," she suggested, prompting Klaus to open his eyes again, to lean over and leave a trail of kisses up her belly, nestling into her chest while she cradled his head.

"Best idea ever," he agreed, but jumped a mile when the doorbell rang just then.

Violet giggled silently at his reaction, and just put a finger to her lips, mouthing, "Maybe they'll go away." She pushed Klaus off of her and tiptoed, naked, to the door to look out of the peephole. Nobody was there. She shrugged at Klaus and put her shirt back on to crack the door open. There was a package, a large envelope, propped against the door. Violet carried it in, locking the door behind her again, and set it on the dining table.

"It's addressed to both of us…from, oh, Jack Dunlap," Violet announced, surprised.

"Who?"

"Jerome Squalor's lawyer."

"Really?" Klaus was putting some of his clothes back on, too, and crossing the room, curious.

Violet opened it quickly and there were two letters inside. The first one was from Mr. Dunlap.

Dear Mr. and Miss Baudelaire,

I was very sorry to hear that your sister's emergency surgery had kept you from Mr. Squalor's funeral. I write this in the hope that she is well and truly healed and doing well by now. I couldn't in good conscience, especially since Jerome, who was an old friend of mine, only demanded you come in person to stroke his own ego and power, not let you have what was bequeathed to you. I don't know what Jerome's letter entails, but he seemed to think you would want the information contained in it. I sincerely hope it is indeed wanted information, and not more misfortune. Yes, I am familiar with your story, Baudelaires. Please accept my apologies on the lateness of sending this letter and good luck to your family.

Sincerely,

Jack Dunlap, Executor of Jerome Squalor's estate

Violet took a large breath, handing the first letter to Klaus, then tore open the second letter, the letter from their old guardian, Jerome.

Dear Violet, Klaus, and Sunny,

I hope this letter finds you all well, although if you are reading this it means I am not doing very well at all, and I have passed away. There are many things that I regret in my life, and am taking this short time left to me to make as many of my mistakes as right as possible.

One of my biggest mistakes, of course, was letting you walk out of my life. You were my responsibility and I did not do everything that I could do to protect you. I had my reasons and my excuses. I was a coward, had fought too many fires, figuratively, and did not want to get involved in any more. You three Baudelaires were the catalyst for so many more fires, and for a long time, I could only hide my face in shame and be relieved that I was not involved, but as time has passed, I can say I am truly sorry for not helping you when I could, and maybe those fires would never have been started, figuratively and literally. You have been so brave, facing so many challenges, and hopefully coming through those fires like the phoenix you are, becoming new and changed for the better. This is what I hope for you.

Anyway, I'm sure you don't care for the sentimental thoughts of a dying man. When you came to me, almost a decade ago now, to ask me questions about your parents, I didn't feel safe giving you the answers you sought, but what do I have to fear now? The small tidbit of information that I am about to impart is based solely on a circumstantial conversation I had eavesdropped on from another volunteer. Your question to me was why did Beatrice and Bertrand send you away on the day of the fire, when they had never seen fit to send you away on the trolley unchaperoned, especially with your infant sibling, before? Did they know something was going to happen? If so, why didn't they prevent it?

It was your mother who stole the sugar bowl so many years ago and her enemies had long planned revenge. According to my source, the plan was to make their pursuer, whom I can only imagine was Count Olaf, think that he was killing everyone in the house, and that would be revenge enough, that he would be satisfied and not stick around to see who had actually passed away. Your parents never realized that Count Olaf was not only seeking revenge for the death of his father and the theft of the sugar bowl. They didn't realize that it was his strategy all along to kidnap you children, therefore securing your family's large fortune, and Beatrice and Bertrand unfortunately made it so easy for him, leaving you in that idiot, Mr. Poe's care. All of this is probably not news to you, but I think they meant their deaths to be a sacrifice that kept you safe. They had been wonderful volunteers, but as you know, nobody is perfect. They made a mistake in judgement. Who of us hasn't?

They loved you. They died for you. Be happy in that knowledge, please, and when you think of me, please think of me as someone who was more noble than not, for I believe that I am.

Yours Truly,

Jerome Squalor

Violet was so disappointed in the letter that she scrunched it all up in her fists and threw it on the floor, then stomped on it for good measure. "Violet!" Klaus exclaimed.

"God, you were right, Klaus." Her voice was strained from her frustration and annoyance, the threat of angry tears making her voice shake. "Fuck Jerome Squalor. He's such an idiot. Why would he send us this rubbish?" Violet paced down the hall as Klaus smoothed out the letter to read it for himself. She turned around, coming back, "No, I'm the idiot for ever thinking we could know even one little thing about our parents. Everyone seemed to know, except us. Always, always, always the big, fucking secret," she continued to rant, throwing her arms up in the air. "Fine! I don't even care anymore." She turned back down the hall, into the bedroom, and curled onto the bed. She took several big breaths and then the tear scare was over. She hardened her heart. She hadn't expected information today and she hadn't gotten any, not really, so it was nothing to cry about.

She had talked herself down by the time Klaus came to find her. He laid down right on top of her, letting all of his weight squish her into the mattress. "Ug, Klaus," she complained, trying to be light-hearted. "You weigh as much as an elephant."

"I'm sorry," he said, and he wasn't apologizing for squashing her flat. "I won't even say I told you so," and he kissed her face as she huffed angrily. "I think we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact that we'll never know for sure what happened to our parents…but I do think we can be sure that they were good people, who loved us and did what they thought was best, even though it was probably a very hard decision for them and maybe not even the right one. You and I have made those same hard decisions, and they haven't always been the right ones, either, and then we had to pay the consequences for those decisions."

A traitorous tear ran down her cheek and she couldn't even wipe it away with Klaus holding her body down so heavily. He continued, "It's not what you want to hear. I know that. I'm sorry." She nudged at him to give her some room, and when he did, she turned onto her back, and wrapped her arms around him to hold him so tight, soaking in his steady presence, until the burn of unshed tears in her throat finally dissipated.

"Let's order pizza for supper?" Violet suggested.

"Sounds perfect," he answered. He rolled off of her onto his side. "Wait just a moment, Violet," he requested, as she had started to sit up. "This was also inside the envelope with Jerome's letter." He handed her a rectangle of paper, nice paper, smooth and shiny, and when she took it from his hand, she realized it was a photograph. She instantly recognized it as a holiday portrait of their family, one that her mother had sent out to all of their friends inside hand-addressed Christmas cards. Violet had forgotten this small detail until just now.

"Oh my God," she whispered. They had literally no photos of their childhood left from the fire. She ran her forefinger over her father's smiling face. His hand was on Klaus's shoulder, whose glasses were too big for his face at the young age of what, 11 or 12 years old? Her mother was looking down at the infant Sunny in her arms with the sweetest, most doting smile on her face, and Violet noticed that she was almost a dead ringer for her mother, each with long dark hair. In the photograph, Violet stood next to Klaus, her hand on his other shoulder and she wasn't looking at the camera, but smiling at Klaus.

Violet huffed out breath of wonder. "Look Klaus. I only had eyes for you, even then." She shook her head in wonder. "I'm in love with you, you know," she said with a small laugh.

He took the photo from her to look at their young faces again, then reached over her to prop it up on the bedside table. "I did know that, actually." He looked at her long and hard. "Have I told you how happy I am? I have literally never been this happy, not even in that picture," he said, his eyes flitting to the nightstand. "I'm not happy that they died, but our lives would be different if they had lived, and I can't imagine any other life than this one right now."

"Klaus!" she admonished. "You'll make me cry," and she turned her face and covered it with her hands.

"Do you feel the same?" he asked.

She could only nod. Of course she felt the same.

"There's only one thing that would make everything perfect right now," he told her seriously, and she uncovered her face to look at him out of curiosity.

"What?"

"If you would order that pizza, now? I'm starving." He tickled her, making her laugh so hard she couldn't breathe.

"Okay, okay," she gasped. "Stop…pizza!"

"Don't you think it's interesting," Klaus said as he pulled her close, kissing her lips briefly, "that we've been on such a long journey? It's been years that we've been traveling to get here, to this point, but it doesn't feel like the destination, does it? It feels like the beginning," and Violet agreed.

The End


End file.
